RWBY: Reality Shift
by ComradeTrick
Summary: When London teenager Com Kellner accidentally falls into the world of Remnant and wakes up on the floor of team RWBY's dormitory, he takes the opportunity for a fresh start at Beacon Academy. This story is about his struggle in the harsh world of Remnant, accompanied by his new friends, and the discovery of the true Com.
1. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Chapter One: Rude Awakening

I try to force my eyes, glued closed from hours of sleep, open. After a couple attempts, I give up trying. A couple more minutes won't hurt, right?

Even though I can't see anything, something feels...off. I can't really put my finger on what it is, though. It's just a vague feeling of uneasiness. Then again, I'm pretty sure it's a Monday, so it's not entirely unwarranted.

After a couple more minutes of this, I become aware of a painful throbbing in the back of my head. It's nothing like my typical migraine, more akin to a hangover. I try to think of whether or not I went out last night, and nothing comes to mind. In fact, I can't remember anything about last night. I rack my brain for any details and come up completely empty-handed. I can assume I went out, that would explain a lot, but…

Alright, this is getting too much to handle. I'm opening my eyes now.

It takes a lot of effort, but eventually my eyes flutter open, and I immediately regret my decision. This is too much to take in.

I'm in a room, that much is obvious, but it appears to be some kind of dorm, because of the bunk beds. Speaking of the bunk beds, they appear to be normal beds, just stacked on top of each other with things like books and ropes keeping the top one from falling. The posters of male pop singers, along with the fact that many of the aforementioned books seem to be romance or what appears to be female-oriented smut (the muscular men on the fronts are a dead giveaway), seem to suggest that only women live here. Either that or some very feminine guys. This seems very very familiar. Too familiar. I don't think I'm supposed to be here.

Light pours from the window, accentuating the rose-red color of the curtains (one of them seems to have been stitched together). How long have I been asleep for? I don't normally sleep in for this long. Was it drugs? Drugs aren't my thing though, apart from cigarettes, but they wouldn't have got me into this mess. Was I roofied? Doesn't seem at all likely, I'm hardly the type of person you'd want to waste good roofie pills on. Alcohol, maybe, but I'm still not sure.

While I'm processing this, I hear a faint murmuring out of my field of vision. My hearing's pretty poor, but it sounds like some sort of debate. Guess the owners of the dorm didn't want to wake me up. How considerate of them. If I woke up to some random tosser sleeping on the floor of my room, I'd kick six shades of shit out of him.

Alright, what the hell am I going to say to the people who live here? They still don't know I'm awake, I haven't moved. As far as I can see, I can do one of three things:

Continue lying down and wait for them to attempt to wake me up, to which I'll react completely bewildered (as I know.

Go back to sleep and hope that it's all just a dream, which it might not be, which just makes my problem worse.

Actually confront the problem head on. Sit up and introduce myself, and hope not to get the shit kicked out of me.

As I lie here debating this quandary, the whispers begin to louden. I can only assume the argument has become more intense. I can make out individual voices now, two of them.

"Ugh, can't we just throw him out now? He's been asleep for ages. I don't know why you're being so considerate to a random pervert."

Oh. So that's what Person 1 thinks I was doing. Breaking into a girls' dorm room for less-than-holy reasons. For God's sake, I may be a pervert, but not to that extent.

"C'mon, I'm sure he'll wake up anytime now. It's nearly 10:30. Besides, I'm sure he's not a bad guy."

Now this person I like. She's got the right idea. What a sweetheart, seeing the best in me before she's even heard me speak.

"Either way, what'll we do with him when he wakes up? We can't let something like this go."

"Hmm...fair point. But it's not like he's done much wrong. I say we just ask him who he is and take it from there."

"I'm really running out of patience now. He's probably already awake and just pretending to be asleep."

This is the perfect time to make a good first impression. I see an opportunity and I take it.

"Bingo."

At this I hear a shriek, followed by what sounds like someone falling backwards. Huh. I guess that wasn't the right thing to say. Damn it, you only get one chance at a good first impression, better not stuff it up even more.

"Heh, sorry. Suppose I should've gone with option 1" I say, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I-I wasn't scared, you just caught me off guard!" I hear what seems to be a stomp of indignation. "You've got a lot of explaining to do. Do you know what you've done?"

"Nope." I say with my best shit-eating grin, directed to nobody in particular. "But I might if you guys told me."

"Umm...we don't know either, mister." the other voice says.

"No need to 'mister' me, I'm probably around your age anyway. Now" I say, turning to address the higher voice, which seems to have moved from behind me to one of the top bunks, "who are..."

Oh.

Oh okay.

This is happening now.

"Ruby?"

Chapter Two: Greetings

Ruby Rose stares back at me, a mix of confusion and worry in her grey eyes, her pale skin glowing in the morning light.

Oh yes. THE Ruby Rose. Y'know, the one from RWBY? How the fuck did I end up in the same room as a fictional character. Either I'm high, I've finally gone insane, this chick's just a fantastic cosplayer with the exact same voice and personality as Ruby, I'm dreaming, or I've somehow entered their reality.

WHAT DID I DO LAST NIGHT THAT LED TO THIS.

I wish I could remember what happened last night, because whatever did happen, it's landed me in a...peculiar situation.

Alright, I've got one of three options now:

Begin fangirling like a little bitch (I will inevitably do this once formalities are out of the way, regardless).

Suavely introduce myself then woo her with my sharp wit and existential philosophies (that will never work).

Do something about the look she's giving me, probably caused by the fact that a complete stranger knows her name.

Before I can decide on any of these options, I feel a prick on the back of my neck. I sigh, guessing what's next isn't going to be fun and games.

"How do you know her name?" the other voice asks, which seems to have increased in pitch slightly.

"Et tu, Weiss?" I mumble, turning to face the ice queen herself. "You need to calm down, Jesus Christ. It's not like I've broken into private property or anythi-"

Weiss proceeds to slap me, right in the face. I should probably start taking this seriously. I now know that this is no longer a dream, so the time for cockiness is over.

"OK, OK, I'm sorry. I'll tell you whatever you need to know, alright? Please, put your sword down, I'm unarmed."

She seems to be considering this, before lowering her sword slowly. I let out a deep sigh of relief. "OK, now we can..."

Nevermind, she stopped the tip of her sword right in front of my groin. This is worse, this is so much worse.

"Don't think I'm going to let my guard down for one second, you perverted creep. All I know is that you've broken into my dorm room and you may be a threat. So convince me otherwise."

I look at Ruby, shooting her my best "Oh fuck what do I do" look, which involves my eyes being as wide as a church door and profuse sweating. She seems to nod at me, and mouths "Do it".

Alright, here I go. I swallow and begin.

"First of all, I'm unarmed, which you already know about. Second, do I look like a threat? C'mon, my arms are as strong as my will to live" I say, doing that dance move where you hold your arms akimbo and wiggle them, you know, that one. This seems to perturb Weiss, and she drops her weapon away from my nob.

"Thirdly, I have no goddamn idea how I ended up here, so even I don't know why I'm in here. And the final piece of evidence that I am of no harm to you..." This is going to be good. Wiess really looks like she's questioning herself now.

"If I came in here to hurt you, why did I not hurt you when you were asleep? That would've been much easier. And furthermore, why would I go to sleep in the same room as the people I meant to hurt, and in plain view at that?" I can hear the Cornered theme from Phoenix Wright playing, then again it's probably all in my head.

"Yeah! Nice job, strange boy!" Ruby shouts from her bunk, with her fist in the air, probably to annoy Weiss. I look at her and she seems to look away shyly.

"There. That's all the proof I have. Now maybe we can drop the hostilities and start working together to figure out why I'm here." I say, putting my sass into overdrive. I've got my hands on my hips and everything. Only thing I'm missing is the clicking in a C shape.

As I finish saying this, someone stirs from one of the bottom bunks. "You don't need to figure it out," they say, although their speech is muffled by the sheets on top of them. "Because I was the one that brought you here." And out of the bedsheets emerges the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life.

"Y-Yang...umm...I-I...heeey." Killer introduction, dickhead. To be honest, this is how I normally greet people of the opposite sex. I devolve into a stuttering mess.

Yang giggles, and I'm too transfixed on her gorgeous hair and smile that I neglect to notice that I'm now not even talking, just staring like a giant creep. Shit. I slap myself hard in the face, and she giggles even more.

"I heard your debate against Weiss. Seems that you're possibly the smartest in the room" she says, with a killer grin. Knowing Yang, this is probably just some kind of lead-up to some terrible pun I decide to beat her to it, noticing that Weiss seems to be ignoring me now, pouting in the opposite direction.

"Looks like she's going to be giving me the 'cold shoulder' for a while now" I say, with finger guns and all.

This raises a chuckle from Yang. I reckon we're going to get along just fine.

"Hey, that's my line! Anyway, I don't quite know fully what happened, but I found you staggering along the streets of Vale at night. You seemed out of it, so I brought you here."

Oh. OK. I was picked up and brought to Beacon by my waifu. Either today is the best day ever, or one of the worst. I suddenly become aware of an insane urge to piss.

"Uhh, could any of you tell me where the bathroom is?"

Yang nods her head, and gestures towards a wooden door off to the side of the room. "While you're doing that, I'll explain to the girls what Ozpin thinks happened. I checked with him before I brought you anywhere near Beacon."

I nod, and begin walking towards the bathroom. As I reach the door, I get the feeling that something's missing. Taking a backwards glance at the room, it suddenly becomes glaringly obvious. How did I not notice this before?

"Hey, where's Blake?"

"Oh, she left for breakfast. Wanted to eat somewhere nice. She's picking up croissants for everyone, including you. I explained the situation before she left, so she's cool."

"Nice of her" I mumble, entering the bathroom. I close the door. Now I can afford to show some weakness. I fall onto the toilet, head in my hands, trying to figure out my next move. What should I do? There's little to no chance of getting home now. But...do I really want to? I could live here just as comfortably.

I look around the room. It's just like any other, isn't it? Most things are the same in this dimension, aren't they? Apart from all the Grimm and shit. But I reckon I can live with that, can't I?

I sigh and heave myself off of the seat, lift the seat and have the weirdest piss in my life. I wonder if anyone from my dimension has ever pissed in this dimension, if it is another dimension. Is it possible to piss between dimensions? Through a portal of some kind? I wonder if this is some kind of dimension shift? That's what I'm going with for now, until Ozpin clears this up.

Realising I'm not going to get anywhere with these questions, I finish up and begin washing my hands. The thought strikes me: where am I going to live now? What about a job? I could just pursue a normal education, but if the chance to become a huntsman is available…

I begin to smile. All my life on Earth I lacked purpose. Whatever I did never felt like I was making a difference. Now, I have a chance to make a difference, become someone that others rely on.

Maybe this isn't so bad after all.

. . . . .

"So we're supposed to just accept that?" Weiss says, indignant as always. Will I ever get her to like me?

"Well, you don't really/ have a choice. It all adds up, doesn't it?" I say, folding my arms. Eventually I'm going to soften her up. Maybe we could become great friends. I almost laugh at the ridiculous idea.

"Hmm..." Ruby's face is scrunched up with confusion, or perhaps deep concentration. Maybe both (God, she's so cute). "It's farfetched, but it does make sense."

Ozpin's currently facing the outside world through the window in his office. I don't know how many times this has happened. I wonder if this has ever happened before, or if this is new to him. Hell, I think it's new to all of us.

"Well, until we know for certain, which may never happen, that is the most likely explanation. It explains why there was a TV show about our world in your dimension. In dreams, it is said that the lines between dimensions begin to blur. You say this 'Monty Oum' fellow got the idea from a dream?"

"Yep, that's where it originated. You're all quite a big hit over there."

Yang smiles. She always struck me as the attention-loving type. If she starts asking me about her role in the show all the time, I'm going to get really pissed off and tell her she spent a majority of Season 4 moping around at home after losing an arm. But I know that won't happen over here. The concept and characters came from Monty's dreams, but everything from Season 3 onwards kind of lost touch with the actual happenings in this dimension.

"Anyway," Ozpin says, addressing me. "What's your name? I don't believe you've told us before."

I consider this. I could stick with my real name, but everybody over here has much cooler names than Earth's. Now's the chance for a fresh start. I look Ozpin firmly in the eye.

"My name is Com. Com Kellner."

At this, everyone raises an eyebrow. Both Yang and Weiss look at me, trying to decipher what it means. Or maybe they just think that my name makes me sound like a giant bellend. Before anyone can say anything, I notice movement over Yang's shoulder. I stand on my tiptoes to take a look. The door is opening.

"Hey guys." Blake says this as she enters the room. "I got croissants. Anyone want any?"

At this, all the girls rush over to her. She catches my eye and sets the basket (yes, a fucking wicker basket) of croissants down on a nearby cabinet, and walks over to me. Oh god, not more introductions. Nope nope nope nope nope. I never really got Blake as a character. One moment she was sullen and withdrawn, she next sarcastic. I guess I'll let her make the first move.

She stands in front of me, and our eyes lock. This lasts for about ten seconds.

Oh crap, I think she's expecting me to be the first to introduce myself. I steel myself and prepare to play the long game.

Our eyes narrow. Our hands are at our sides. It's almost like a cowboy showdown. I feel like a cowboy hat and a revolver would really make this awesome.

After a whole nother thirty seconds, we both extend our arms at the exact same time. Perfect time for an opening line.

"So who wins?" we both say at the same time. At this, she smiles and withdraws her hand, settling for a wave instead. Understandable, considering her personality. I find my voice.

"Hey. Nice to meet you. I'm Com." I say, giving her my most winning smile.

"Com? Nice name. I'm Blake." If this is sarcasm, she doesn't show it. It seems genuine enough, which I'm happy about. We both lapse into silence, Blake looking out the window, me looking at the floor.

"So...I wasn't awake when you woke up. How did you react?"

She thinks about this for a second. "I remember being a little shocked, but I've dealt with worse. You didn't seem like the fighting type."

"Heh, you got that right. Not in the morning, anyway." At this the edges of her mouth raise slightly. She doesn't really seem like the smiling type, so I'm counting that as a small victory.

I take a sidewards glance towards Blake, who still seems deep in thought. She catches my eye.

"Well, what do you think will happen to you?" she asks.

I consider this for a second. "Well, I'll join Beacon. I don't know how powerful I'll be, but I'm sure I can be of some use."

"Most likely, the fact that you came from another dimension will be enough for you to gain admission. How old are you?"

"16, I think. Turning 17 in a month, I think."

"Well, you'll be in our year then. Most likely you'll share some of our classes."

"So, do you reckon I'll get along with the rest of your team?" I inquire, casting a sidelong glance towards the girls. It appears that Yang and Weiss are hitting Ruby with pillows to get her to surrender the strawberry jam. By the looks of it, they're going to be at it for a while.

She smiles, a subtle smile that makes me trust her. "Yeah. I reckon we'll get along just fine."

. . . . .

Author's Note: Hey guys, thanks for reading the first two chapters of RWBY: Reality Shift. I'll be uploading more later, I've got some more chapters stockpiled. Either way, I've been working on this for a little while, so I thought I might as well get it out there. Any criticism is much appreciated. Thanks again.


	2. Chapter 3 and Chapter 4

Chapter Three: Housewarming

"I'm really sorry about this, guys." I say as we walk back to the dorm. "I hope I'm not going to cause any problems."

"Don't worry about it, Com. We really don't mind." Yang says, playfully punching me in the shoulder. Ow, fuck, that hurt. I try not to hold my arm in pain.

"Well, by that you mean you and Ruby don't mind. I don't know how the others feel. I bet Weiss is more than a little pissed off."

"Eh, she always is. Don't worry about her" she says, as Yang, Ruby and I walk back to the dormitory. "I also checked with Blake, and she didn't mind either."

I let out a long sigh. "Thank God. I'll try my best to stay out of Weiss's way. Hopefully she won't mind my presence that way."

"I'm sure she'll like you eventually. You're just too considerate to be hated for long."

Let me fill you in, dear reader. Basically I've been accepted into Beacon. I'm living and studying here unless I can return to my reality. However I'm not going to attempt that. My life used to be comfortable but boring. I never had any direction. I constantly felt that I was running around and around and around in circles, never getting anywhere, reaching for what I could never obtain. And I can find that here. I can find Purpose. The fact that I get to hang out with some truly incredible people is a mere bonus.

However, the school doesn't normally accept new students after the start of the year, and when they do they only pick enough students to be successfully sorted into teams of four. So I'm going to be staying with team RWBY for a while, as I already know them (somewhat). The schools conferred about this, and they support the decision. This allows them to take in one extra student and test how effective teams of five would be.

While the teachers were debating the matter of my acceptance into Beacon, Weiss and Blake headed back to their room to study. That left Yang, Ruby and I sitting outside the office, doing a whole lot of nothing. So we just talked, endless streams of conversation about almost everything under the sun, such as comparing the pastries of our respective dimensions (pain au chocolats can't be beat for me, but both sisters lean more towards cinnamon scrolls, which I don't blame them for) and what genres of videogames we like (they've never played FPS games, or rhythm games, just fighting games. They have no idea what they're missing out on). I could converse with both of them with ease, especially Yang. She acts just like one of my friends at home, only my friends are more perverted.

Ruby was a slightly different story. I could still talk with her easily, almost as easily as Yang, but something felt...different. Like some kind of awkwardness between us. She didn't seem to be acting herself, at least I don't think she was.

I began to notice that her body language was...strange. While I sat with legs apart and Yang sat with one leg over the other, Ruby's legs seemed to be very close together, her knees touching and her back bent over slightly, with her hands interlocked. She looked shy. Shyer than normal, definitely. I don't know what was up with her, maybe it's because I'm a nigh-on stranger. I don't know, it seems to have passed now.

Back to the present, now.

I lapse into silence, and feel a bulge in my pocket. Something long and fairly flat. I dig my hand into my pocket and pull it out.

It's my phone. Weak compared to most flagships, but it did the job. I press the power button and it turns on after a second or two. Checking the top bar, it has 83% battery left, and all the data on it has remained. That's fortunate. Seems I still have my music library. I pat my other pocket and am glad to find my headphones (compact, but with beefy bass and impressive volume). I open up my headphones, place them on my head, plug them into my phone and press the Shuffle button on my playlist. This'll make the trip back even shorter.

As the first song comes on, I notice that Ruby is staring at me. Considering the fact that over here they have Scrolls, not phones, she's probably never seen this kind of stuff before.

"Umm...Com?"

"Hmm?" I glance at her, moving my headphones down to my neck.

"What's that?" she says, pointing to my phone in my pocket. "And what did you plug it into?"

"Oh. Well in my dimension we didn't have Scrolls. Instead we had phones, these chunky metal-and-plastic devices that required charging. Primitive, but this one has all my songs on it. I'll figure out how to transfer the music onto my Scroll eventually." I say, waving the school-assigned Scroll I was assigned.

"And what about that thing you're wearing?"

"Well, these are headphones. I listen to the music through these. I don't know how it works with Scrolls, though."

This seems to catch Yang's attention. "Music, huh? I love music. We don't have much time to listen to it though. Could I listen?"

At this I become strangely protective of my music. I should share it with her, but...I don't know. It feels wrong. I lost a lot of the stuff that I valued in my tumble through dimensions, but I want to keep this private.

"Umm...I'd rather not. It's complicated."

"Oh. Okay." At this Yang looks a little sad. Sad enough to make me feel guilty. Oh god, stop thinking with your dick Com.

Well, she is letting me stay in her room, so I think I owe it to her.

"Actually, sure. Why not? Let me just..." I say, sorting through the songs, trying to find a song she'd like. "What genre do you like?"

"Hmm...I like a lot of them...probably rock."

"Alright. How heavy? I've got a couple here."

"Ehh, I don't mind. Surprise me."

"Whatever you say, boss." I grin, loading up one of my favorites and handing the phone and headphones to Yang. She puts them on and grins. I look away for one moment and look back to see her jamming out in public, playing air guitar and everything. Seems like I made the right choice.

"Oh fuck. What've I done, Ruby?" I say, glancing to Ruby, who's suppressing a laugh.

"Oh, she's like this all the time, Com. You'll get used to it in time." She glances down at my chest and points. "Music's a big part of your life, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" I'm momentarily confused as to what Ruby is pointing to, then remember that I'm wearing my headphone necklace. The gold pair of headphones gleam and sparkle in the afternoon sunlight. I'm really glad I didn't lose it when travelling through dimensions. I look up and Ruby's looking me in my face, expecting some sort of answer.

"Yeah, it does. I always felt that life was boring in my dimension. Get up, go to school, learn topics that you'll never need or want to know, come home, do homework, fall asleep. Wash, rinse, repeat." Ruby's looking deeper into my eyes now. Jesus they're distracting. I look away and focus on where I'm walking.

I continue, "But having music there helped me. Having a soundtrack in my life helped me to feel like I had purpose, that I was more than one of seven billion expendable cogs in the humanity machine, that my toils were never in vain." I sigh, feeling the slightest bit of homesickness. "I suppose you don't need to worry about getting bored around here. Every day would be an adventure."

I glance at Ruby again. She hasn't taken her eyes off me since I started talking. I could look into those eyes forever.

"Yeah, it's always an adventure over here. But sometimes I wish that I could let myself be bored. That doesn't happen often." Ruby says, taking her eyes off of me now. Thank god, the tension of the moment lessens somewhat. I can breathe again.

"Fair point. I suppose living in a world with little risk has benefits." I stop walking for a second to admire the view. I believe it's Autumn, or the equivalent of Autumn over here. The orange leaves glow in the late afternoon light, like little fires. Piles of leaves line the walkway to the dorm, as if destiny was forcing me down this path. Ruby stops too, admiring the same view. We both stand there, silent, in appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us. In this moment, something exists. Something special. Something that's fleeting but means more than months in my world ever could. I would take Ruby's hand, but I don't think I'm ready for that. I just want this moment to last forever.

And it might've, if Yang hadn't charged into us at full speed, knocking both me and Ruby into a massive pile of leaves to the side of the path. She must've found my exercise playlist.

After killing myself laughing, I stand up and brush myself off, then extend my hand to Ruby to help her up. She accepts and takes my hand with a small smile. She weighs absolutely nothing, so it's hardly a difficult task. We begin to walk again, then I realize she isn't letting go.

. . . . .

Shit.

Shit shit shit.

Oh fucking hell what do I do.

Jesus Christ I'm having a mini panic attack I cannot let Ruby know I must calm myself down.

Breathe, Com. Breathe slowly and deeply. Oh God can she tell that I'm freaking out from my deep breathing?

I start to attempt to breathe like a normal person, but you know that when you try to act normally it never works, so I end up breathing irregularly. I decide to focus on something else, anything else, and settle on Ruby's hand. The softness and coolness of her skin, and how her pale hand contrasts with my tanned one-

Oh for God's sake, are my palms sweaty? My knees feel weak and my arms are feeling fairly heavy, so that is a possibility. Considering how nervous I am, it's a big problem. Sweaty palms aren't good if you're holding hands, at least I've been told, I've never done anything like this before-

Ruby's voice cuts through my cycle of worry. "Com, are you okay? You look a little pale." Ruby actually looks a little concerned.

I give a little nervous laugh. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. It's just...human contact makes me a little uncomfortable sometimes."

"Oh, sorry." She begins to withdraw her hand, but I squeeze it before she can fully withdraw it.

"No, I don't mind that much. It feels good." I give her my most reassuring smile. I don't want this to end. Not yet. "I've just...never really held hands with a girl before." Ruby takes my hand again and smiles.

"It's okay. Neither have I. I've never been a romantic, flirty person."

"That makes two of us, then."

We lapse into silence yet again, simply enjoying the walk and each other's presence. I'm trying to figure out what she's saying by holding my hand. Is it supposed to be simply a friendly gesture, or…? No, I'm pretty sure she told me that she wasn't a "romantic, flirty person", so does that mean that this was a flirty, romantic gesture? God I'm so confused.

I realise in the last stretch of the walk that over analyzing this moment detracts from the experience. So I decide not to, instead immersing myself in the moment, losing myself in Ruby's touch and her beautiful eyes. I wish that this moment could last longer than it does, but all things must come to an end. We reach the entrance to the dorm building, it's large doors beckoning. I look at Ruby.

"Umm, I have to go meet with Pyrrha. She's going to help unlock my Aura and maybe discover my Semblance. But I was wondering...after that, maybe we could hang out?"

The smile that lights up Ruby's face could light up all of London at night. "Yeah, I'd like that. I know a place that makes the best pizza you've ever tasted."

"Cool, I'll meet up with you afterwards." I'm not missing this for the world.

Chapter Four: Awakening

Not sure why Pyrrha arranged for me to meet her on the roof, but whatever. I wouldn't mind if the wind wasn't as cold. The wind is bracing, and I rub my arms as I wait for her. I'm incredibly lucky that she volunteered to awaken my Aura and hopefully my Semblance. She's one of the best in the school, if not _the_ best. Wonder why she volunteered though.

After about three minutes of waiting, she emerges from the stairwell, golden headpiece glinting. After a second or two my eyes meet hers. I try to remember how she acted in the show, but I can't remember much, so I simply wave to her. "Hey, Pyrrha. Good to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine. Com, is it? Is it short for anything?"

"In a way." I shrug. "It's my full name, I like it. Don't question it."

"Alright, Com. Shall we get started?"

"Okay, I'm ready whenever you are." I just want to get this out of the way so I can get to my...what did I call it? I'm calling it a date in my mind. I mean, that's what it is, isn't it?

Focus, Com. Focus on the matter at hand. "Okay, remind me how this works again? I know what Aura is, but how exactly do I activate it?"

At this, Pyrrha simply says "Close your eyes and concentrate."

"U-umm, okay." I do as she says, concentrating with all my mind. I can feel some kind of energy passing through me, Pyrrha touching my cheek. She seems to be saying something, but I'm not really listening.

When I feel her part after about twenty seconds, I open my eyes. She's doubled over in exhaustion. I look at her. "You okay? You seem pretty tired."

She laughs a little. "Oh, no, I'm fine. It's a tiring process, you know." She straightens up and looks at me strangely, as if something's wrong.

"Is something troubling you?" I ask, trying to be considerate.

"Well, you do possess an Aura, but it's quite a bit different to mine or most others. You have very little Aura, however it regenerates at an absurdly fast speed, in a matter of seconds."

I am troubled by this. I mean, that sounds pretty sweet, but why me? Is that all so different to other Auras? "That it? That doesn't sound that odd."

Pyrrha breathes in. Looks like she's preparing for some grave confession. I mean, Jesus man, it's not like someone's died.

"Well, Com, that's not quite all. While activating your Aura, I sensed that somehow, your Semblance was activated prior. All it took was the awakening of your Aura to allow it to be used."

"Ohh, yeah, my Semblance. How...do I use that again? Do you know what it is?"

"Not exactly. To use it just concentrate and try to focus your soul outwards. It's hard the first time, but after a couple times it becomes second nature."

Alright. I begin, then get a thought. "Uh, Pyrrha, could you please step back? I don't want to activate my Aura near you and it turns out to be Self-Detonation."

Pyrrha nods and steps back. As I begin to concentrate, the wind feels colder than ever. The sun is slowly going down, bathing the roof in a dark orange glow. I'm so damn nervous I can't do it.

Focus, Com. Once you do this, you can hang out with Ruby. That's worth this times a million. Let's go.

I really concentrate, and I begin to feel a pulling in my chest. It's hard to describe, like my organs are attempting and failing to leave my body.

At once a purple glow appears behind me. Alright, I'll count to three and turn around to see what I've done.

1…

2…

3!

I wheel around and there, in the air, is a purple vortex, rotating clockwise. It seems to crackle with some strange energy, and miniature bolts of electric-looking energy shoot a few centimetres off of it. I turn back to Pyrrha and raise an eyebrow. "Did I do good?"

For a moment she actually looks stunned. I suppose I did something right. Hold on, let's see what I can do with this. Turning round to face the vortex, I concentrate again and think about moving it. It moves instantly. That's neat, I guess. From behind me I hear Ozpin's voice. "Ah, a reality-tearing semblance. Interesting."

I wheel around and face Ozpin. "Professor, what is this, exactly? I don't know, but I'm able to move it."

"You are able to create pathways to pocket dimensions, created by you. Do you remember how I told you that dreams were like windows into other dimensions?" I nod. "Well, as you sleep, new pocket dimensions will be created. You may also be able to tear the fabric of space in this dimension, creating portals through Remnant that interlink. This is a powerful tool, Com. Ensure that you use it wisely. "

I think about this for a second. This seems like it could be very useful in battle, both offensively and defensively. Awesome. Looks like I might fit in after all.

Wait a sec.

"Professor, does that mean I can create a pocket dimension filled with infinite cold ones?"

This appears to bemuse Ozpin and Pyrrha for a second, but Ozpin does not hesitate to respond. "I am not sure what you would define as a 'cold one' but if it is featured in your dreams, you will probably be able to, yes."

Fucking hell, this is possibly the best Semblance of all time.

. . . . .

As I walk back to the dorm, I realise I hardly look presentable for any kind of event, not even a pizza dinner. I came into this dimension wearing grey tracksuit pants, an aged white T-shirt with the guys from Reservoir Dogs wearing animal masks on it, some busted-up trainers I've had for approximately three years and socks with weed leaves on them, along with my gold headphone necklace. This is typically what I wear when I'm writing, it just gets me in my zone, y'know? But if I'm going on a date (I...think? I'm still incredibly confused), I want to look decent. So I decide to pop into the clothing store on campus and spend some of my school-allocated Lien on a respectable wardrobe.

The little bell attached to the top of the doorframe rings as I enter, which alerts the shopkeep. He looks at me quizzically and simply says "Looks like you need some new attire, sir." I normally would take offence but I can hardly disagree with him, and he is the owner of the establishment after all. I nod at him and head towards the trouser area.

After picking out a few pairs (jeans, a pair of classy beige chinos and a black pair suited for battle), I wander over to the shirts section. There's a wide variety, but I settle on a couple of plain t-shirts, including a couple of more battle-oriented ones (all black or dark purple of course). As for shoes, I just settle on some new trainers and a pair of boots.

After surveying my haul, I realise it's all a bit dark. Not a great first impression to make on my other classmates. Wouldn't want them to think I was some kind of disgusting edgelord, now, would I? I also realise that I'm going to be freezing my tits off if I don't get some kind of jacket or hoodie. I survey the choices, but none of them seem quite right, either too childish or too serious or too jockish or too twattish. I sigh and am about to give up hope when I spot something behind the shopkeep, something red. I gesture to the shopkeeper and ask him what it is.

"Oh, you mean this thing?" he asks, pulling out a hoodie that I instantly fall in love with. It's dark red, bordering on purple, with some kind of jagged red rib cage-looking pattern on it. There appear to be some kind of horn-looking things on the top of the hood that would make the wearer look almost devilish. After he passes it over to me, I notice a layer on the inside of the jacket. It feels tough, like chainmail almost. I guess it's battle-ready, which is nice because I would look fucking awesome fighting in it. I try it on and after five seconds wearing it the hood latches onto my head, securing it in place. I guess it must be automated or fused with Dust or something. Either way, I need this.

The price was a little higher than expected but I stride out of the clothes shop in my new attire, feeling like a million dollars. The armoury can wait.

. . . . .

Author's Note: Well, looks like you're back for more. Hopefully that means that you're enjoying the story so far. The idea for these chapters kind of sprung out of boredom and I thought that this was an interesting way to go, with Ruby kind of dipping her toe into the waters of flirtation. Either way, hope you enjoyed.


	3. Chapter 5: Mamma-Mia

Chapter Five: Mamma-Mia

I approach the pizza joint with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. The walk here was pretty confusing at first, as I'd not been outside of Beacon yet, but with the help of a few friendly strangers and this world's equivalent of Google Maps, I managed to arrive just in time. I walk up to the entrance. The sign at the front says "Wait to be seated", but before I enter, I scan the restaurant for Ruby. Apparently she hasn't arrived yet, as I cannot find her among the sea of other people, many of whom I assume to be students. I open up my Scroll and fire Ruby a text.

 _Me: where r u?_

 _Ruby: be there in 5. Sry i'll explain when i find u x_

I accept this explanation and open up Downwell on my old phone when I realise. At the speed of light I pull my Scroll out again and reread the message, then re-reread it, then check it once more to be sure. That...that _x_ at the end was deliberate, wasn't it? Not just a typo?

Well I sure as hell hope it's not a typo. I suddenly become very self-conscious and nervous. Do I smell OK? Is my hair fine? I can cover up my hair outside with my hood but I can't keep it on in the restaurant, that's impolite. Does my breath smell fine? Oh shite I don't think it does. I pop into a nearby alley for a second to rectify this.

Once I'm out of sight of the general public, I create a small reality tear and reach into it. After fumbling around for a bit, I find the pack of Tic-Tacs I stashed in Dimension 1;nvent and pull it out, popping three in my mouth before putting the pack back in there.

"Com?"

Oh fuck who do I need to explain this to? Oh wait, that's a highish female voice. An adorable voice. A voice that I could listen to for hours.

"Hey Ruby."

"Hi. Sorry I'm late, I was held up for a bit." Oh, I can forgive her for this. She could get away with anything on my watch. Should probably inquire about why though.

"Why, if you don't mind me asking?" I ask, as I turn away from the tear. "Oh, that would explain it."

Standing behind Ruby is the rest of her team. Weiss is pretending that she doesn't notice me, chin held high in a particularly irritating, snooty fashion. Blake's looking at the floor, but she looks up for a second and gives me a quick wave, which I return with a smile and a subtle, cheeky wink (me being smooth as fuck). However it's Yang that concerns me the most. She's smiling at me, and her wave seems to come naturally enough, however the smile does not reach her eyes. I think about why this might be, but I can't think of anythi-

Oh. That's right. She's a little...overprotective of her sister. Hmm. This puts me in a tight spot. Do I explain this to her or what?

I suppose I'll worry about that when it comes to it. Right now I've got more important things on my mind, like the cuteness of Ruby's shy smile.

Tonight is going to be fun.

. . . . .

As we get seated, I look at the crew, gauging their responses now that we're more settled. Ruby seems to be a little more comfortable now, messing with Weiss, attempting to annoy her. It's working. As for the Ice Queen herself, she's as cold to me as ever. It'll take some work, but I'm determined to become friends with her eventually.

Me, Blake and Ruby chatted on the way here. They asked me a bunch of questions about life in my dimension. I explained that where I come from, we don't live on Remnant. Instead we live on this planet called Earth. I tell them all about my travels to various places, and my friends from back home in London (I reckon Yang and Cory would be best buds after a while, and I reckon Ben would be great pals with Blake. As for Gabe, Finn, James and the other boys, they'd be awesome friends with team SSSN). They tell me about the classes I'll have starting tomorrow, and the teachers I'll love, hate and learn to love (really looking forward to Oobleck's lessons). Blake seems to be comfortable with my presence, which I'm really happy about. She isn't typically this friendly towards newcomers, as I've seen in the show.

Yang still doesn't look happy, but she's still smiling. I can tell it's fake, it's obviously bullshit, but I won't mention it. Maybe she's just having a bad evening, you never know.

"Uhh...I reckon I'll go with the pepperoni and sausage. Can't beat the classics." I say, closing my menu and opening the drinks menu in the middle. "They have Coke over here? Or Pepsi? Fanta? Doctor Pepper? Mountain Dew?" Oh god, I loved all those. They don't have them over here, do they?

"Um, what are those?" Ruby and Blake ask. Oh, well I've sparked their curiosity, I'll keep this going.

"They were drinks from my reality. Coca-Cola was the biggest, it was available in nearly every country. They were all carbonated, fizzy in layman's terms." I shake my head. "They were all delicious. What do you have here?"

"We have Dr Piper. And, uh, People Like Grapes, but we don't talk about that after Weiss drank a few bottles and-"

Weiss claps a finely manicured hand over Ruby's mouth, grimacing as she stifles whatever juicy secret she was about to tell me. Shame, it probably would make great blackmail. I grin at Weiss while Ruby struggles, her words muffled.

"Oh, come on, Weiss, this was just getting interesting, you spoilsport." I feel the other two girls nodding behind my back. Unbeknownst to Weiss, I create a little tear behind her, and a linked one underneath the table. I reach down, feigning a scratch of the ankle, but I actually put it through the tear. My arm appears behind her, out of the purple vortex, and I feign concern.

"What?" Weiss asks through gritted teeth, still covering Ruby's mouth.

I point behind her with my spare hand. She turns around and looks at my hand. A moment passes and her face morphs in shock. I grin and boop her nose with the tear hand, before withdrawing it and closing the tear.

Weiss gives a shriek of fear, but it's muffled by my other hand, appearing out of a different tear. All three of the girls are laughing their heads off. Yang sounds like a dying cow. Damn, when did I become so smooth?

"Not funny, Com. Not funny." Weiss mutters.

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow and gesture behind me with my head at the laughing trio. Other people in the restaurant are laughing as well, but they're doing their best to hide it. Weiss's face turns bright red.

"Ah, sorry Weiss. I'll shout your pizza, my treat."

"N-no, that's not needed." Weiss stammers, all bewildered.

"Eh, regardless. Think of it as one better than a normal apology."

"Th-thanks, Com." There we go, have I got her out of her shell yet? Eh, probably not, but it's a start at least.

I settle down and our food comes in no time at all. I take a break from chatting to wolf it down. Fuck, it's good. I remember I was trying to eat healthy back in my reality. I'll probably keep that up, but I fell into an alternate dimension for god's sake, I think I deserve a damn pizza.

I stifle a burp and look around the table. Ruby's already done with her pizza. The girl can eat, I'll give her that. Weiss is only three slices in and she's eating it with a knife and fork. C'mon Weiss, there's hardly any need to be posh here. But I suppose posh is her default. I won't judge her either way. I suppose she has a reputation to keep up.

Blake's nearly done with her seafood pizza. I mean, that looks pretty disgusting to me, who has tuna on a pizza? But I remind myself that she's a Faunus, a cat Faunus, so it makes sense. Again, don't judge, don't be an arsehole.

Yang's alternating between eating her Hawaiian pizza (pineapple on pizza, disgraceful) and giving me subtle death stares. At least they would've been subtle if I wasn't watching her through a portal when I turned my back. Her eyes are flashing red occasionally when I'm not looking at her directly, so I'm quite spooked. I'll confront her about this later.

After we're all done and we pay up (me paying for Weiss's and my own like the generous gentleman I am), Ruby excuses herself to go to the bathroom and I get up to go outside. The air is still relatively cold, and I put my hood up for warmth. It locks into place and the horns secure on my head. Fashion at it's peak. I love this hoodie.

I glance up at the moon. It shines so brightly, even though it isn't that late. I have several questions about it, like why it's so massive in the sky and why it's broken, but I save those for my lessons tomorrow. I mean they must've done some research into it, right?

As I contemplate this, I hear a rustling behind me, faint enough so that I can tell it's either an animal or a human deliberately trying to be quiet. I can guess that Yang's involved somehow, based on the looks she was giving me. I know I can't defeat her in a close-quarters fight, so I just sigh and brace myself for whatever she has planned.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. Oh, okay. I was expecting a bag over my head or a punch in the back of the head but whatever. I turn around and face Yang. She's smiling now, but again I call bullshit.

"Yes, Yang? What's been up with you tonight? You don't seem particularly cheery."

Yang looks taken aback at this. "No, I'm fine. Why do you think something's up?"

I smirk. "Please, Yang. I may be an idiot but I'm not stupid. I can read you like an open book."

"Hmm?"

"One with a lot of pictures and very few words." I say with a massive grin. At this Yang's eyes turn red and the cheery facade is dropped. "Take that back, Com."

"Oh, Yang. Learn how to take a joke. The key is in the eyes. The smile wasn't reaching your eyes. Also they were flashing red while you were looking at me. What's up with that?"

At this Yang raises a gauntlet, and it extends to form the full Ember Celica. "Stop asking questions, Com."

"Stop doing things that need answers, Blondie." I say, cool as ever. I'm attempting to provoke the answers out of her, which seems to be working. She grits her teeth and draws her arm back to strike. Perfect.

Instantly a portal appears in front of me, and a linked one appears behind Yang. She hasn't got time to stop herself, and punches straight into the portal. Her fist reappears behind her and hits her in the back of the head. Staggered for a bit, she glares at me. If looks could kill, I'd be deader than dead right now.

Yang fires a shotgun blast at me, which I warp into dimension 1;nvent. She keeps firing and I keep blocking them, and I keep getting more blasts in my dimension. This is all part of the plan.

When Yang runs out of shells and she stops to reload, I create about forty tears around her. She stops mid-reload and looks at me, confused but still really pissed.

"Remember all those shells you fired at me? They didn't go away. I have them still. They're just in a pocket dimension I can access at anytime. All of these tears are one link away from firing all those blasts at you simultaneously. Now please, can we stop fighting and discuss this in a grown-up, reasonable manner?"

After a few seconds, Yang puts her Ember Celica away and looks at me, the anger in her eyes subdued somewhat. I sigh and withdraw my tears. "This is about Ruby, isn't it? I can tell."

She looks at me and mutters a response which I can't quite hear. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, this is about Ruby. She's too young to be in a relationship like this, she's not ready."

Well that's a sweet reason, if misguided. To be honest I would feel the same way if my younger sister was in a first-time relationship. Time to convince her.

"She's going to be sixteen soon, isn't she? In a couple of months time? I can bet that you were that age when you were messing around with guys. Am I correct?" The look in her eyes tells me what I need to know. "Besides, I'm a good guy. I'd never think about hurting her or breaking her heart in any way. And if I do, get all the members of team RWBY, including you, and break me. That's an order. Understood?"

Yang closes her eyes and nods. Seems like she accepts it now, and if not now, I'm sure she'll accept it soon enough. "Thanks for understanding. Ruby's got you to look after her, she'll be fine no matter what happens."

"I know." Yang says faintly. I turn to go back to the rest of the group, but before I re-enter, Yang grabs the back of my neck and slams me against the wall. Oh fuck, was she tricking me? I sigh and brace for a thorough pummeling.

Yang puts her face right near mine. Her breath feels warm and her eyes look into mine with a kind of intensity that I've never seen in my life.

"I don't doubt that you'll protect Ruby as best you can, and you won't hurt her in any way, but understand this, Com." At this she leans even closer, so that our noses are nearly touching. "You better treat her like a damn princess. You better make her feel like the most special girl in the world. Because if you don't treat her well, I will break your legs, and then your arms. Slowly." She tightens her grip so that I can't breathe much.

"I don't doubt that, Yang. You have my word." I feel myself beginning to lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation. Can she please let go soon? I feel Yang loosening her grip on my neck. When she lets go, I drop to my knees to catch my breath. After a few seconds I look up. Yang's hand is extended towards me, a smile on her face. This time it reaches her eyes. I return the smile and take her hand. She pulls me up with ease and I dust myself off when I'm up. "Thanks."

She smiles one of her genuine smiles at me, and I'm instantly put at ease. Looks like I'm off the hook for now. We head back inside, both of us feeling a lot lighter.


	4. Chapter 6: Battle Ready

Chapter Six: Battle-Ready

Uhh...for God's sake, morning already? I've got class today, don't I? Fucking shoot me. My neck and back are still sore from being slammed against that wall last night. I settle on the 'five-more-minutes' plan before I start getting ready. Seems like some of the girls are still in bed though, so I'm not that early.

I stir from the floor once again and try to focus on the world around me. This is giving me serious deja vu. I'm not on a mattress of any kind, because a) it would take up too much space in the dorm, and b) I couldn't be arsed to haul one up. Yes, I'm a lazy sod, no need to tell me. It's becoming a serious problem.

It might be my half-asleep mind, but I think I hear running water? I focus really intently to pick up any sounds around me. Yep, sounds like someone's in the shower. I'll need one as well eventually, so I'll wait until whoever is using it currently is done. The idea of a cold shower is actually enticing for once.

I turn on my back with my hands behind my head, staring at the ceiling. It's slowly starting to brighten up, so I can actually see some of the tiny cracks in the ceiling. They should probably get that fixed soon, or fix it themselves. But out of all their skills, I doubt DIY is one of them. I could probably do something with it.

I hear a door opening. Probably the bathroom, now that I can't hear the sound of running water, just a few drips. I look over at the door and out emerges Yang.

In only a towel.

Oh for fuck's sake.

She doesn't notice me at first, and just turns to close the door behind her. I stark panicking about what to do. Do I pretend like I'm asleep or just look away? Oh fuck why does this always happen to me? While I'm panicking about this, Yang turns around and our eyes meet. Now I've really stepped in it. I can feel my pupils enlarge.

After approximately two and a half seconds of eye contact, neither of us moving, I just say "'Morning."

"Hey, Com. Morning." Yang stifles a yawn and rubs her eyes with the hand she isn't using to hold up the towel. "God, starting the day with a hot shower's just made me sleepy again. You want to take one?" She gestures to the bathroom.

"Sure. I need to pop into the armoury before classes, so I better get moving."

"Oh, cool, I'll come with you then. I'm awake so I may as well."

Man, I'm showing a lot of self-discipline to keep looking into her eyes and not about thirty centimetres lower. But I'm not normally able to talk so casually to girls, and this is a pretty exceptional circumstance. I kick up and land on my feet, and start walking towards the bathroom, rubbing my eyes to keep myself awake.

"Hey, Com?" Yang says, looking a little perplexed.

"Hmm?" I look at her with my eyes half open to stop myself from perving. I'd like to say that that's not the only reason but it's the only reason that matters.

"Why weren't you sleeping on a mattress? You can just get one from downstairs, you know."

"I could but I'm a lazy arsehole. Also it would take up a lot of the floor space, wouldn't it? As it stands, I'll sleep on the floor. Just seems more convenient." I say, closing the bathroom door behind me. Finally I can relax. As I take off my pyjamas I feel the tension in my body slowly seep away.

Jumping in the shower when it's cold takes a lot of willpower but I somehow manage it. After scrubbing myself down as fast as possible (that's the secret, get in and get out, no lingering) and shampooing my hair, I hop out and realise I left my clothes outside. Frick.

I wrap a towel around my waist so that it doesn't fall down, you know, tucking the top in so that I don't need to hold it up. I gather my pyjamas neatly in a pile in the corner of the bathroom and open the door to the main room.

I step out and close the door behind me. It's surprisingly loud and creaky. I hope I didn't wake up the girls, they need their beauty sleep, I'm sure.

Someone stirs behind me, I can hear the movement and what sounds like groaning. To be fair I didn't want to get up either, so I can understand that. Maybe I could ask them to come with me? I mean, all of the team are good with weapons, so having them around would probably be helpful, right?

Turning around, I see Weiss emerge from the bed, still half-asleep, her white hair dishevelled and messy. So this is what the Ice Queen looks like at home. I snicker, which seems to get Weiss's attention, her eyes focusing on my face.

"'Morning, Weiss. How are you?"

"Uh, I'm fine, Com. Do you...need to be somewhere? We don't typically get up this early."

"Yeah, I need to pop into the armoury to get some kind of weapon. Can't really go to classes without this school's version of a pen, you know?"

"Mmm-hmm. By the way, your clothes are in that wardrobe over there." She points to a wardrobe with a sliding door, embedded in the wall. Wait, clothes?

I'm not wearing clothes. I only have a towel around my waist. That's it. I feel my face begin to redden.

"Thanks Weiss. Hold on, I'll just get changed and I'll leave. Where's Yang?"

"Not sure, I just woke up, you know. But if I had to guess, she's probably picking breakfast up."

I start feeling really stupid and self-conscious, and I quickly grab my clothes out of the wardrobe. I just want to get properly dressed so I don't need to feel so damn awkward.

As I close the wardrobe door I hear the front door open. Oh for god's sake.

"We were out of toast so I went to get some more from the storage, sorry Com. We've got toast, crumpets and waffles. What do you want? We've gotta bounce pretty soon so be quick."

"Umm, I'll take crumpets, thanks. I'll be one sec, Yang." I say, darting into the bathroom as quick as possible. I get changed as quickly as possible, putting on a dark purple shirt, black combat pants and boots. I open the door and walk out while zipping up my hoodie. How I long for the normal mornings back home. Hey, at least they have peanut butter here.

. . . . .

"Nope, not that one."

I take a weak lunge with a rapier and nearly fall over forwards. It's way too light for me to use effectively. Maybe a slashing weapon would be more my speed. Or perhaps a blunt weapon like a club of sorts.

I stop using the rapier and chuck it towards Yang, who catches it with ease and puts it away. I'm browsing the clubs section with a mixture of interest and boredom. It'll be forever till I find the perfect weapon, but when I do it'll be fucking sweet. Still, I need to get to class in about fifteen minutes.

"How about this one?" Yang passes me a giant mallet which I hold up for about three seconds before I have to put it down. Still too weak. I need to exercise more, don't I? Everyone here seems to be able to run incredibly fast and lift things three times their weight. I better catch up fast.

"Nope, I highly doubt that this is the one for me, Yang. Keep in mind that I'm a little bitch next time." I grin at her through the embarrassment. She smiles back and gestures to the club section.

"Try over there, you might have some luck."

I haul ass back to the club section and pick up a bat. Seems light enough to be moved with ease, and heavy enough to deal some solid damage. Seems to be made of some kind of metal, which feels both cold and hot at the same time. I take a couple of swings with it and it feels solid in my hands. This might be the one.

"Found it!" I exclaim to Yang, holding the club over my head. Yang looks perplexedly at it and I look perplexedly back. "What? You don't like it?"

"No, it's a sturdy weapon, but...it's very limiting in terms of fighting style. The Ember Celica are good for both close-range and long-distance fighting, while that is strictly close quarters."

"Hmm..." I ponder this and then get a bright idea. "I'll buy more weapons then. That'll fix it."

"Umm...okay? How're you going to carry all of them though? They're heavy enough when you're using them, but carrying two or more will really be a pain."

I look at her, completely deadpan, and slowly open a tear to the side of me. Still keeping eye contact with her, and still not changing my expression, I slowly bring out a bottle of Doctor Piper I stashed from last night, and take a long-ass swig. I then screw the cap back on and put it back in the tear, still looking the same. After closing the tear and maintaining eye-contact for another couple of seconds, I break it and simply say "That's your answer", arms raised in a half-shrug.

"Point taken. Can I have some of that, by the way?"

"Aight. I've also got some Ditos if you want 'em." I open the tear again while I walk to the axe section and pick up a mean number. It's slower and heavier but will do much more damage. I pick it up as well, and head over to the guns section, grabbing a shotgun, a pistol (silencer included), a revolver and a rifle. They're on sale so they shouldn't put that much of a dent in my wallet. I have a dimension full of revolver ammo from that dream I had where the koala's shat ammo, but I don't have that much of the other stuff, so the revolver will be my main. I pick up a holster and buy the lot, with Yang still staring at me, still drinking all my damn soda. "Oi Yang, save some for me. Soda doesn't grow on trees last time I checked."

As I'm walking out with my small mountain of weapons, attaching the holster, putting the revolver in there, holstering the bat and chucking the rest into my 1;nvent dimension, Yang kinda tags along, still bewildered. I look at her and wave my hand in front of her face to get her attention.

"For God's sake, Yang, I need to know where classes are. Any directions?"

"U-uh, yeah, we should get walking. Follow me." I do so, following close behind her. I check my Scroll. We've still got ten minutes before we start. But getting there a little early can't hurt, can it?

"Yang, why were you so spaced out back there? Something up?"

Yang doesn't stop walking, just looks back. "I was just thinking how Ruby would react if she saw all those weapons."

I nod and begin to giggle a little. "That probably wouldn't be good. Let's keep these a secret then. Agreed?"

"Agreed." We laugh together as we make our way towards the first class of the day. School's more interesting then it is in my dimension already.


	5. Chapter 7: Saved By The Bell

Chapter Seven: Saved By The Bell

UUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH FUCK. PORT, STOP. PLEASE.

Professor Port's been blabbing on and on about some fishing story, that I don't think has anything to do with class. Does it though? I scratch my head with an arm from a pocket dimension trying to recall what we were discussing before. Was it aquatic Grimm? I'm pretty sure it was. I mean, I know they exist from Season 4, that is if I can trust anything beyond Season 2. I'm confused.

"Mr...Com, was it? Com Kellner?" Port's addressing me now. I quickly close the tear and look at him, caught very off-guard.

"Umm, yes, Professor?"

"I heard about you from Professor Ozpin. It's very good to finally meet you." The smile in his eyes seems genuine enough, so I smile back.

"Good to meet you to, sir. Was there any particular reason you decided to call on me though?" I enquire, slightly curious.

"Well, the use of your Semblance caught my eye. What is it, exactly?"

"Umm, I don't have a name for it yet, and I'm not sure if a name already exists, but the gist is that I can create tears to pocket dimensions that are created when I sleep. I can also create tears through space, allowing for portals through this dimension." Having everyone looking at me is making me uncomfortable, so I go a little red and sink a little lower in my seat. I look around for help.

"Yeah, it's really awesome, Professor! He's carrying a small mountain of weapons in one of his dimensions right now, not even breaking a sweat!" Yang shouts, before she looks back at me and notices me giving her the death stare. "What?" she says, obviously confused. At this I make a subtle gesture to Ruby.

"Yang, really? Didn't we just agree earlier?"

"Oh, I was joking about that."

"God damnit." I bury my head in my hands and sigh one of the deepest sighs I've ever sighed. Yang may be beautiful, and she may be strong, but she isn't too bright. No offense to Yang, she certainly isn't dumb, but when you can't detect any sarcasm at all, you don't take it as fucking sarcasm.

"Well, Com, would you mind giving us a demonstration?" Port enquires, with one of his absurdly bushy eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, sure." I prop myself up with one arm and open up my weapon storage dimension, pulling out Brutus (the axe). I open another portal in the empty area of the classroom and all of the weapons fall out, landing on the floor. The students look a little taken aback, but after a second Port laughs and picks up Shots and HomeRun, examining them.

"Hmm, these seems to be single weapons, not poly-weapons."

"Well if I constantly have access to ranged weapons," I say, gesturing to the guns on the floor and the revolver on my hip, "I didn't really think it was necessary to have any poly-weapons. Plus poly-weapons didn't exist in my dimension, so I feel more comfortable using mono-weapons." Oh fuck's sake, now everyone's looking at me funny. Shouldn't have brought up the whole 'other reality' thing.

"It's a long story." I say with a small smile as Ruby jumps in the pile of weapons and tries to swim through them. I really need a Monster, it's too early for this shit.

. . . . .

"Alright, everybody, settle down. The winner is Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha smiles politely as people clap from their seats. Glynda scans the audience for the next fighters.

"Now, how about...Cardin Winchester. Come over here and choose someone to fight."

Cardin heaves his mace up onto his shoulder and walks up to the arena, along with some twat with a green mohawk. The smug look on both of their faces makes me want to set his brown hair on fire and push him down a flight of stairs. When he begins scanning the crowd he must be able to see my face, because he points at me with an annoying-arse smirk on his gob.

"I'll take Mister Universe over here. Didn't know other universes had such short residents." At this Cardin's entourage of dickheads begins to laugh, but their laughter shrivels up when I fix them with my coldest glare. I've always been a little self-conscious of my height, but when tall twats make fun of it I don't exactly react well. I step up and Blake volunteers to fight with me, which I graciously accept. As I climb up the small flight of stairs to the arena, I feel some kind of premonition, but I shrug it off. Whatever happens can't be that bad, right?

I eye up Cardin and give a threatening smile, all lopsided, which seems to put him off a bit.

"What's so funny, Hoodie?" Cardin barks at me, which makes me snigger a little.

"Didn't know other dimensions had such dumb cunts, Cardin. Thanks for informing me." At this Cardin gets visibly pissed off, his face gets red, and everyone laughs. Seems I've successfully humiliated him, now I can use and abuse his anger. But I don't think they know that 'cunt' is a rude word, I think they're just laughing because I called him dumb.

My hand's on my revolver, and in my other hand I hold Homerun, and I brace myself for the beginning of the battle.

As soon as it starts, I book it to the back of the arena and Cardin pursues me, I can hear his heavy footsteps behind me. "Run, Cardin. You could use the exercise." Oh shit, better book it. The green twat's running to Blake, who's not moving. I realize what she's doing and prepare a tear behind her. I don't open it yet though, I'll open it up when the time is right.

Green Twat lunges at Blake with his two knifes, and I open the tear as Blake's Shadow form disappears, and he falls into the dimension with all the chainsaws. That'll be an interesting experience. After about five seconds he's spat out, completely drained of Aura and rolling on the ground in (I think) a mixture of pain and terror. Cardin stops for a second, looking at his friend, and the next second Blake kicks him in the back of the head, knocking him forward. I take the initiative and hit him in the temple while he's stunned, knocking him to the floor. I spin the chamber of my revolver and fire all six shots into his back. None of them pierce his Aura but it drains it to 17. One kick to the head while he's down knocks him in the red. With that we win, and I nod at Blake. We did good.

"Well that fight was over quickly. The winners are Blake Belladonna and Com Kellner. Good job."

Our classmates applaud and I walk to the stairs leading back to my seat, reloading my revolver.

"Uggghhh...it's not over yet, Mister Universe."

I look back at Cardin, who takes a swing at my face. I duck under and punch him hard in the nose. Blood pours out of his nostrils as he covers them with his free hand. I gaze at him, completely blank in the face.

"Didn't you hear? We already won. Maybe next time, fight me like a man instead of attacking me when the fight's over." With this I walk back to my desk to the biggest round of applause this afternoon.

. . . . .

"That was so awesome, Com! He was like 'YAAAAH' and you were like 'BOOM' and he just started bleeding. You're like a nimble vigilante." Jaune's certainly enthusiastic about that incident. He's doing actions and all along with the story.

"Well he attacked me so I defended myself. It's nothing to get giddy over." I shrug nonchalantly with my hands in my pockets as we walk to the cafeteria. Not sure why he's making such a big deal about it. "Wasn't he an asshole to you for a long time?"

"Umm...yes. He was. Still is, a little bit." Jaune looks awkward and uncomfortable at the mention of that.

"Well then he doubly deserved it. Don't worry about it." Jaune smiles and offers a high five which I gladly accept.

We lapse into silence, which I immediately have to do something about. It takes about four seconds for a silence to get awkward so I go into small-talk mode.

"What's your favourite colour? I can guess that it's yellow, right?"

"Um, yeah, it is. Is yours...purple?" he asks, gesturing to my dark purple hoodie.

"Close but no cigar. Red. It's such a violent, angry colour. Really speaks to my sin of wrath."

"Um, what?"

"Oh, shit. Earth stuff. Basically there were seven bad aspects of humanity we called the Deadly Sins; Pride, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Sloth, Greed and Gluttony. Back on Earth we talked about which one we had issues with the most. What do you think?"

Jaune considers this for a couple of seconds before replying "Probably envy. I want to be as strong as the others in my class and I do find myself getting envious of them from time to time."

"*sigh* How come you're so pure? If the only one you struggle with is envy, and it's benign envy at that, you're almost too good of a person." I facepalm and sigh again.

"Well, what did your friends say you were?" Jaune asks, curious.

"Well I was many of the sins. I was greedy, I was angry and wrathful, I overate, and I was a lazy sod. But in the end we settled on lust."

"What do you mean by that? How are you lustful?"

"Well, I was lord of the perverts back on Earth. I was the most perverted kid in the school, openly hyper-focused on sex. I only talked about it with the guys though, because somehow I doubted the girls would appreciate knowing how many times a day I fantasised about them in various states of undress. Heh, it's basically the same here, all things considered. But keep it quiet, alright? There are some things those of the opposite sex don't need to know."

Jaune nods, with some kind of understanding. "By the way, we're holding a gaming tournament in our dorm. Everyone in team RWBY's invited, so you're invited as well. Will you be there? We start at six."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm not good at most things, but games are an exception."

Jaune smiles and gives me a thumbs-up. I return the gesture with finger guns.

"Umm...what were your friends like, back in your reality? And how did you learn how to fight?"

"Well, they were quite similar to me in most regards, only with the perviness turned down a bit. We were the geeky group, y'know, the group that the jocks look down on with disgust. But it was always great fun, just talking, playing videogames, that kind of thing. Our school wasn't focused on combat, meaning that we didn't really need to exercise, but a couple of us did. That's why I can hold my own in a fight."

My stomach growls and we head into the cafeteria eagerly. "Hey, the food here any good?"

"Yeah, it's alright. Speaking of food, what snacks do you want for the tournament? We've got some generic stuff like chips, but you got any suggestions?"

"Well, Dito's are always good, but I could use some Monster, or whatever energy drink's popular over here."

"Umm...I've never actually drank that stuff. Is it good?"

"Oh boy. You haven't seen anything yet, kiddo."

. . . . .

We're in team JNPR's room and the MonStar's affecting me more than usual. I feel alive, with the energy buzzing through my veins. I've still got a can to go, but an idea comes to mind right before I chug it.

"Oi, anyone got any Dust?"

Pyrrha looks up at me. "Sure, what type?"

"What types are safe to consume?"

This seems to get the attention of the other people in the room (minus Ruby and Yang who are in an intense round of Mega Melee Mates), and they look at me, confused.

"Umm, we've never tried that before, so..."

"Alright, how about gravity? Let's see what this can do!"

I dash into the Dust storage room with the energy of a person on three MonStars and high on life. Getting some powdered dust and chucking it into the can and shaking it to the best of my ability (if I got it in a bottle it would be so much easier), then I walk into the main room while (nearly) everyone looks at me, concern etched into their faces.

"Com, are you sure that this isn't the MonStar talking?" Blake asks, swallowing visibly.

"Oh, it's the energy, no doubt, but I want to do something incredibly stupid for once" is what I would say if I wasn't chugging the mixture. I crush the can and it looks like sparks seem to fly off of it.

I open the balcony door and am hit with a blast of bracing wind. It's dark now, with streetlights illuminating the pathways. I take a deep breath and fling myself off. Sure enough, my descent is ridiculously slow. Gravity's effect seems to have lessened on me.

I land on my feet and jump straight up, back to the dorm. Sure enough, I sail gracefully up, at a leisurely speed. As I pass the window, I look in and everyone stares back at me. Even Yang and Ruby seem to have paused their game. Spurred on by this, I kick off the wall and start moving outwards. I kick off the massive tree in the middle of the garden, spinning back to the dorm. Laughing like a complete madman. I wonder what would've happened if I ingested different elements. I remember Ruby sneezing fire in the first season, so ingesting fire or lightning is probably a terrible idea, so I'll stay away from that stuff. But a lightning mix might be very useful for Nora.

After recovering for five seconds, I look towards the dorm window and see Yang and Ruby jump out the window and fall slowly. Seems like I've started a trend. Everyone in the party's leaping out the window now, imbued with various mixes of dust. I can only assume that this effect is temporary, because I'm sure it'll work it's way out of our system, but it's fucking awesome. I black out around seven minutes after this realisation.

. . . . .

Uhh...what the hell happened last night?

I open my eyes and I'm back in our dorm, and I'm on the floor. But something feels off.

I attempt to move my arms, but they seem weighed down, immobile. I try again, with no success. Spurred on by this, I move my legs. I can move them up and down, but my trousers around my ankles prevents me from moving them too far away from each other.

Wait.

What? Why the hell are my trousers around my ankles? I'm still wearing underwear, I can feel that. That's a major relief. I look to my right and Weiss is lying alongside me, hand on my chest, with no shirt, weighing my arm down. Oh, okay then.

Wait.

Oh fuck, did I cheat on Ruby? No, no, no, no. This can't be happening. I quickly look to my left and there's Ruby, in a similar position, quietly snoring. Now I'm really confused.

I become aware of a hand on my leg. I look down to my thigh and realise that the body linked to that hand is Blake, her other arm lay across my legs. And Yang's laying across my torso. OK, what the fuck.  
Did it have something to do with the Dust cocktails? It must've, right? I mean, I don't think something like this would happen under many other circumstances.

I feel Yang stirring on top of me, and she knocks into the other girls, causing them to stir as well. They all eventually wake up and realise that they're all on the floor gathered around or on my semi-naked body. They all look at me, Ruby and Yang with sleepy smiles. Blake looks away as soon as I meet her eyes, smiling a tiny smile. Weiss looks shocked but appears to resign herself to the situation in a couple of seconds and rests her head on my chest. I look at all of them and just say "I don't have answers."

"Well, we do. But we don't really need them. This is fine." Yang says, with a smile.

I'll ask about this later.


	6. Chapter 8: Field Trip

**Chapter Eight: Field Trip**

 **WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS LEWD. IF YOU DON'T LIKE LEWDNESS THEN DON'T READ PAST THE THIRD FULL BREAK. THAT IS IT, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.**

"Umm, Ruby?"

"Yeah, Com?" Ruby says, looking around as we walk into the nearby forest. Not sure what our objective is, but I assume we've got to kill some shit or collect some shit or something along those lines. I mean, it's happened in the show before, hasn't it?

"If you wouldn't mind telling me, what happened last night? I kind of mentally blacked out after a while and just woke up to...this morning."

"Well..." Ruby looks at her feet with a small smile, "we just kept messing around after drinking that gravity mix, jumping around like a madman. Then out of nowhere you got very...strange, for lack of a better word. 'Sexual' might be a better term, actually"

"Ah, that'll be the blackout part. Kind of like getting drunk. To be honest, that's the me that I keep away from the public underneath this calm demeanor." I wave my hand in front of my face for emphasis. "Well, what happened after that?"

"Wh-what do you think happened?" Ruby blushes and looks at her feet yet again, embarrassed from the looks of it. Yang and Weiss catch up, presumably overhearing our conversation.

"Yeah, you were a beast then. Jesus, that was an experience. We should do that again soon." Yang says this while placing a finger on my chin and smirking.

"Not yet, Yang, I'm still sore and tired." Weiss smiles (a truly rare sight). "You may be short, Com, but..."

"Your lower self isn't!" Yang bursts out laughing, slapping her knees and all.

I look at Ruby, visibly shocked. "You were fine with this?"

Ruby shrugs. "I did some thinking, and if we get too serious it could mess up the team chemistry. Plus if we break up it'll really mess everything up. So I think it's best if we stay friends. I don't mind. I think it might actually do us some good." She smiles at me, completely earnest. "Plus, I don't think it would be fair to have you all to myself."

"That does seem for the best." I don't mind not being too serious with Ruby, that gives me benefits with all of team RWBY. To be honest, I'd be more upset if she'd let this develop any further then broke it off, but I feel it was a little too hasty. I turn to Yang, serious.

"Well, regardless, relationship or not, the conditions we agreed on back at the pizza place now apply to everyone. And if I don't follow up on them, the punishment will stay the same. Understood?"  
Yang breaks the jokey demeanour for a second and nods solemnly. "Got it. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll treat us well." She leans in to whisper in my ear. "You did last night, Com. Thanks for that."

I blush, my face red as a radish, and I shiver at her seductive tone. I was still a virgin but after you watch that much porn, you tend to pick up a little.

"Any time, girls. Well, nearly any time." I grin. I guess I can be more open and honest now that we've...done things. I suppose I also don't need to be so worried like I was yesterday morning. I just hope I can summon the charisma I possessed when I mentally blacked out, I mean, Jesus. How on Earth did I convince all of them to sleep with me? I guess I can just cause myself to black out so I don't disappoint.

We keep walking for a few minutes more, and in that time I catch up with Blake, who was walking closer to the front.

"Hey, Blake. How are you?" I say, quickening my pace as to walk side by side.

"I'm fine, thanks Com." She seems troubled by something, deep in thought.  
"Something up? You look troubled."

"Well, I was wondering. You said you mentally blacked out last night, right? We drank similar concoctions but, mentally, we stayed relatively unaffected. Why were you affected while we weren't?"

I already have an answer. "I think it might be that I'm not used to Dust. You have grown up in a world in which Dust is commonplace, while in my world there's no such thing. Perhaps it's an adaptation of people here, or maybe individuals grow used to it in time."

"That does seem like the most logical explanation." Blake seems to snap out of whatever deep thinking she was partaking in and turns to me with a smile.

"Last night was fun. You should act like that more often." After holding eye contact for a while, she gets embarrassed and looks away at the ground, blushing. For God's sake, was I really that good? I mean, I was a virgin till last night. Maybe the MonStar had something to do with it? I don't know, I'm not going to think about it too much.

The group stops and Glynda addresses us. "Alright. We've heard that some robots went missing while on patrol in this area. We can assume they were taken out by Grimm. Since you are more capable than sentry guards, I'm entrusting you with the task of tracking down the parts and finding out what happened to them. I'm here to make sure you don't die while doing so."

"Pretty hands-off approach to teaching." I whisper to Ruby, who nods in response.

"All of you will travel in your respective groups. Once you have found any parts, you will bring them back to this point. If they are easily salvageable, we will take them and rebuild them. If they aren't, you may do with them what you wish."

At this, I get an idea. I'll keep it private until the time comes, though.

"Be back here in two hours. If you aren't, you will get a detention. Understood?"

A quiet murmur of "Understood" spreads through the small crowd of students.

We all depart in different directions, with team RWBY and I heading south-east of the point we started. We walk in relative silence, all focusing to see if we can see anything metallic-looking. After about an hour of searching we decide to sit down for a while and have a break. We didn't have much luck, finding only one piece of scrap metal. I sigh and open up a portal, pulling out an energy drink (they were on special, only one day past their use-by-date) and cracking it open. While Ruby, Weiss and Blake sit on a nearby felled tree, I walk over to the middle of the grassy clearing we stopped in and lie down on my back, staring at the sky. It's a cool day, sunny but the wind has a little bite to it. The clouds are white and scattered sparsely across the sky. The vibrant leafy green of the peaks of the trees further accentuate the blue of the sky. As I'm laying here, taking in the beauty of nature, Yang comes and lies next to me.

"You reckon we'll have any luck?" I say, not taking my eyes off the sky.

"Probably not, but I don't really mind. It's a good way of spending a class day. How are you feeling?"

"Bored, but I'm fine enough. You?"

"I'm fairly bored as well. We're resting here for about fifteen more minutes. How about we make something of it?" She props herself up on one arm and looks at me with a look in her eyes. A look that I don't like.

"Wh-what do you mean by 'make something of it'? Yang?" I try to get up but she pushes me down, and I fall on my back again. I'm not hurt and not worried about Yang, but I'm just confused. I don't know what she has in mind but it sounds interesting. But if I knew what it was it'd be appreciated.

Yang pulls me closer so that we're only about 10 centimetres apart, gazing into my eyes. They seem to grow even more purple as I gaze back at her, still a little confused.

Yang keeps pulling me closer until we're touching, with me in her arms and her in mine. We stay like this for about a minute before Yang leans closer to me and whispers in my ear, slowly and quietly.

"Tell me, Com. Tell me how you're feeling now."

"Certainly a lot less bored." With a nervous chuckle on my end, Yang moves her head away from my ear, and I can finally breathe-

Yang's lips touch mine. They're soft and warm and taste like some kind of berry. Strawberries? Raspberries? I don't know, I was never the biggest fan of fruit. My heart's racing, I wasn't expecting this at all. Either way, we're lying on the ground, holding each other and kissing. This feels...strange. In a good way, a great way. I'd never even held hands with a girl in my dimension, and suddenly I'm here, in the forest, in an alternate dimension, kissing the most beautiful person I have ever seen. My hands begin to wander, eventually resting on her hips, as she places one hand on my chest and the other on the back of my head, running her fingers through my hair. There's some kind of emotion behind that gesture; a passion, I sense, deep yet gentle and controlled. I'm starting to find it hard not to take this further then it needs to go. Wow, this is actually kind of tiring. Those poor Bumblebee shippers.

I move one of my hands up from Yang's waist, and I rest it on her cheek. It feels soft and warm like her lips. Feeling a sudden shot of lust, I get the urge to advance this. I would, but we're in public and the other girls are right behind us. If we were completely alone in a private space I would've lost the ability to resist long ago.

As we're kissing, lying on the grass, I feel a slight tap on the back of my head. Bizarre, it didn't look like rainy weather, and Yang's moved her hand down to my lower region-

I withdraw, unwillingly. "Yang, wait a sec-"

"Come on, Com. Don't be a square." Yang grins, undoing the belt of my trousers. "The girls wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, but-" Out of the corner of my eye I spot Cardin and his lackeys. Cardin's filming us on his Scroll, looking very pleased with himself. He's gone and done it now.

I stand up and face Cardin, my hands shaking from rage. Yang looks confused until she looks in the direction of Cardin, and when she does the follows suit. I pull out my revolver and shoot Cardin square in the head, knocking him down to the floor. He drops his Scroll in the process and it lands with a faint clatter on the floor. I open a portal near it and retrieve it, grabbing it with my hand. I withdraw it from the portal and promptly delete the footage. I'm sure it could be used for blackmail later, so this is for the best. At least he wasn't streaming it.

I open the 'Deleted' folder and delete it from there, so that there's no proof whatsoever of this. Looking up, I notice that Yang's holding Cardin against a tree by his neck, her eyes red and gleaming.

"Let him go, Yang. We needn't cause any more trouble than we need to." This seems to cut through Yang's fury, and she shoves Cardin away from her. He attempts to land on his feet but he stands on a root, making him lose his balance. As he falls flat on his arse, I toss the Scroll back at him in a lazy arc.

"This isn't over, Mister Universe."

"Oh, I think you'll find it is." A portal appears about a metre away from Cardin, and it emits a blue glow, pulsating with energy. "Unless, of course, you want every molecule in your body to be disintegrated in a matter of seconds. In that case, please continue." I drop the composed facade for a second. "Now fuck off."

Cardin and his goons retreat at the sight of my seething. I'm beginning to get the urge to kill them anyways. A hand on my shoulder drags me back to reality.

"Com, are you alright?" Ruby looks at me with serious concern.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. All good. Thanks, Ruby." I force a smile, and my anger begins to fade. Ruby seems to have a similar effect on Yang, as he red in her eyes slowly vanishes, replaced with the ordinary purple.

"Was that...Cardin, just now?"

"Yes, it was. He wanted revenge for his loss yesterday, I'm pretty sure. What do you think, Yang?"

Yang shakes her head. "I think you're right. Stupid pricks." She looks at me with a smile. "At least the video was deleted. But, y'know, we both looked pretty good. If it did get out, I don't think it'd be an emergency."

"Yeah. You're right." The forced smile begins to come naturally.

"Umm...what were you doing? We just came when we heard shouting and gunshots." I look behind her and notice that Blake and Weiss are present as well, both also looking fairly worried.

"Oh, we were just relaxing, enjoying each other's company. You know how it is."

I look at Yang with a knowing smile, which she returns. She gives me the look, the look that simply states 'To Be Continued.'

. . . . .

I lie on the floor of the dormitory, listening to some ASMR I downloaded when I was still in my dimension. I used to think it was weird, but I'm addicted now, it just calms me down. After everything that's happened in the last two or so weeks, I think I need some fucking relaxation.

We ended up finding a severed robot arm and half a leg on our excursion-type class. That was about four days ago, and I've just been continuing with classes as usual. In terms of my performance, I seem to be keeping up academically, despite having fairly little knowledge of the world of Remnant. I know about the different types of Grimm well enough, and I'm pretty good in terms of lore and history, and I outperform nearly everyone else in my knowledge of Dust and religion (despite being an outgoing atheist. It was the same back on Earth). In the fighting classes, I've won about five matches and lost one (to Nora, I forgot about her Semblance and zapped her with a taser. She proceeded to destroy me in one hit. Then again, because of my low Aura, most people's attacks will knock me low in about in two or three hits). I'm ranking pretty high in that regard. I mean, as long as you have more wins than losses, you're doing pretty well.

My calm, meditative state is broken by the sound of a door creaking open out of my field of view. My sigh could be heard from the heavens, now that my trancelike state is gone. I pause the track and ask who it is, in a slightly gravelly voice (Ren kicked me in the throat today. Knocked me down to half health, that did).

"Hi, Com! Sorry, we're just grabbing some gear. Did we interrupt anything?"

"No, no, it's fine, Ruby. Have fun."

Ruby, Weiss and Blake grab a few items and leave, presumably to do some kind of evening hunting. Only Yang remains.

"Aren't you joining the rest of the girls, Yang?"

"Nah, I'm too tired for that right now. That battle against Pyrrha was exhausting." She settles into her bed, not even bothering to get changed. "Well, I'm going to rest. The other girls are doing some kind of hunting camp with team JNPR, so they won't be back until tomorrow."

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything. You look properly out of it." She just looks so done, a grin stretches across my face. She looks like a little kid who just came down off a sugar rush. I know the feeling, those MonStars have a serious crash problem.

I stick my headphones back on and start the playlist. Within fifteen minutes, I'm fast asleep, drifting off into my dreams.

. . . . .

I jolt awake from a nightmare involving Grimm eating my hands and legs. I'm pretty shaken up by it, but I get over it eventually, and begin to feel more hungry than traumatized. My stomach growls and I recall missing dinner. I didn't mean to, but I didn't feel like socialising and wasn't that hungry anyways. Some days we all feel like that, don't we?

To quell my appetite I stand up and tiptoe to the snack cupboard. If it was just me in the room I would've just opened a tear, but it's not and I don't want to wake Yang up with the sound and light that the creation of a tear produces. I reach into the cupboard and grab a mini-packet of Pumpkin Petes. I'll eat it dry, it doesn't bother me (on a side note, why do some people seem repulsed by eating cereal dry? It tastes fine without it, the milk is just a bonus. Stop complaining).

Something stirs behind me. Turning around, I see a mass of yellow hair emerge from the sheets of Yang's bed. She runs her hand through her hair, moving it back to its normal position, and looks at me in a strange manner. "Hey, Com" she half-says, half-yawns.

"Hey Yang. I hope I didn't wake you up."

"No, no, it's fine, I was awake anyway. What are you doing?"

"Oh, I skipped dinner, so I decided to get a snack to tide me over until breakfast."

"Hmm." Yang doesn't really seem to be listening. She's looking at me in a familiar way, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before. I walk back over to the floor and lie back down. As my consciousness begins to fade, Yang says "Should we continue from where we left off?"

"Huh?" As I regain focus, I see Yang getting up from her bed. She must've changed into pyjamas sometime through the night, because I notice a pile of her clothes at the end of her bed. She approaches me, that look still present in her eyes. Where have I seen that before?

"What do you mean by tha-"

Oh. Those eyes. That look. That's the look she gave me on that field trip. I know what's going on now. But before I can fully grasp the situation, Yang lies next to me and immediately starts from where we left off four days ago, pressing her lips against mine. I return the gesture, tilting my head and closing my eyes as I lose myself in her touch, her fragrance, her everything. Yang presses her body against mine and I press back, almost as if we're trying to merge and become one. She begins to move her hands down my body slowly, first through my hair, then down to my chest, where she lingers for a brief moment as I rest my left hand on her hips, my right hand on her cheek. She feels warm, as if she's blushing. How far will I take this? I mean, we're in a private place, so that's not stopping me, and I've had sex with her before (even if I have no recollection of it), so…

As we separate for a moment, Yang's hand keeps travelling downwards, until it reaches my abdomen. I feel the pressure more there and a gasp escapes my lips, half from the pressure (I don't think Yang realises how strong she actually is) and half from the excitement that's building deep inside me.

"Yang, are you sure the door's locked? I don't need a repeat of last time-"

"Com, you need to start thinking with your lower head instead of your upper one." She smiles, not a grin, but a smile of want, of desire, with only a hint of humour present. That feeling's mutual. Also, my lower self is agreeing with her, and who am I to disagree?

A sigh escapes my lips. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. It doesn't matter anyway." We kiss again, this time with more urgency, more passion present. Yang's hand continues to travel downwards, and when she reaches my crotch area she begins to rub, slowly, up and down my groin, through the fabric of my pyjama pants. Stopping for a second, she begins to remove her shirt. I look on, my eyes blazing with lust and want. Oh fuck, this feels right. Man, I'm one lucky sonuvabitch. At this point I would remove my shirt as well, but I typically sleep without a top, and tonight is no exception.d

Yang throws her shirt to the other side of the room, fully exposing her naked chest (she doesn't wear a bra to bed, I've noticed). For a moment I'm not certain where to look. Is it OK to look her in the eyes, or do I look at her body or what? I'm not entirely sure, so I kind of avert my eyes, a massive blush forming on my face. At least I try to, but it's a lot more difficult than it sounds when there's a beautiful, nearly naked girl who's in the process of removing what's left of her clothes. You know, I reckon I'll help out with this process. I slowly pull down on her pyjama pants, exposing her pale thighs and lacy panties. Her pale skin makes her almost glow in the light of the shattered moon, like some kind of angel or goddess. The promise I made comes to mind. Am I certain that I'm ready for this?

I set all of those doubts aside and continue kissing her, my hand caressing her inner thigh. She makes the slightest of moans as I run my hand up and down her heavenly form, slowing down whenever I get to a particularly sensitive area, almost teasing her. She looks into my eyes, and I see desire let loose, the spark of pure lust in her eyes. I can see how much she wants me. That look must be present in my eyes too, as she seductively smiles at me, continuing to trace around the area of my groin.

What's the next step though? I don't think we can move straight to sex quite yet, something feels incomplete. And then it hits me. Well, _they_ hit me, right in the face. Not that I'm complaining, there are worse places my face could be than buried in between Yang's breasts. I recall some advice I got from one of my friends, " _don't be too rough with them. Less is more"_. Then again, I'm not sure if I can rely on any of my friends for accurate love-making advice, apart from Eadie, but I'll take their advice nonetheless.

I lightly run my fingers on the outer edges of Yang's chest, teasing her, before slowly and gently squeezing her breasts. I can hear her breathing quicken in pace, and she continues making soft moaning sounds, as she lies on top of me, facing the ceiling. My palms envelop them, rise from them and envelop them again, as I kiss the back of her neck. I take to gently rolling her nipples with my forefingers, speeding up and slowing down steadily and gradually. The longer it goes on for, the more Yang's moans intensify. I'm pretty sure this is the ideal time to advance this.

One of my hands moves from Yang's chest and moves downwards to her lower half. My hand slides underneath her panties as my hand strokes the area around her crotch, and I begin exploring in between her legs.

" _Mmmmmmmm_." The intensity of Yang's gasps, moans and pants keep escalating, and her breathing increases rapidly as I keep pleasuring her. This isn't about me, really, this is about her. Hearing how much she's enjoying this is good enough for me. She's sweating and I'm pretty sure she's trying to communicate to me with words like " _Yes_ ", " _Oh God_ " and " _Keep going_ ", but it sounds like she can't form intelligible sentences through the pleasure. I turn up the intensity of my hand motions and Yang, after a few seconds, orgasms, quivering with what I assume to be joy, having finally reached sexual ecstasy, her noises reaching the heavens. Her breathing is deep and heavy, almost as if we'd just participated in some kind of intense battle, and her moans and gasps quieten down and eventually stop altogether. We lie there, on the floor, together, still undressed, just recovering from everything. We look each other in the eyes and we both smile, from some kind of relief and joy. Then Yang's smile takes on a more...seductive look.

"Your turn" she says, a devilish look in her eyes, as she pulls my pyjama pants off in one swift motion.

I am the luckiest person alive.

. . . . .

Author's Note: Wuss poppin' my good readers. This is my first dabble into lewd writing, and it probably won't be the last. Hopefully you enjoyed it because I certainly did writing it. It was a certain kind of fun. Next chapter will be out in two days. Thanks for reading, have a good one.


	7. Chapter 9: The Aftermath

Chapter Nine: The Aftermath

I stir from the floor of the dorm room, trying to recall the exact details of last night. Some parts of my mind are a little hazy, but I assume the details will fill themselves in once I wake up fully.

What I do know is that I'm no longer a virgin. Well, technically I wasn't a virgin last night, but I have no recollection of my first time, so I'm not certain that it counts. Well, either way, I'm definitely not a virgin now.

Considering how last night went, I suppose my friends were right. I never expected them to actually give me good advice, holy shit. If I ever see them again, I'm going to have to thank them. Then again, that's pretty unlikely.

Now, how am I going to approach this? The rest of the girls should still be out, so we don't need to be secretive about last night, but is it something I can bring up again or not? Damn, the day after's pretty tricky. I suppose that every girl will feel a different way, right?

A pounding headache rears it's head as soon as I stand up, and in response, I hold my head in my hands and close my eyes. Perhaps if I apply enough pressure the headache will magically disappear. God damn it, they'd been gone for so long, ever since I came to this dimension. This isn't good, this isn't good at all.

Let me explain to you what getting one of my headaches feels like. It's like numerous cannons went off in my cranium at the same time, accompanied with general gunfire peppering all parts of my brain. It's bad enough in my home dimension, but over here with all of the gun weapons, it's gonna be complete torture, unless I can get some medicine for it. Headache medicine must exist over here, right?

These headaches are usually what comes when I try to quit smoking. Yeah, I know, I'm a smoker at 16, condemn me to hell. I've tried to quit but the withdrawal leads to shit like this. I wonder if this dimension has cigarettes. I hope so, I'm not going to classes with this pounding headache.

"Ugghhhh." I reopen my eyes and take my head out my hands, my vision slightly blurred and foggy. I wonder how Yang's doing. She seemed pretty happy last night. Then again, so was I. I find it seriously hard to believe that Yang was new to this, she certainly knew her way around that proverbial rodeo. I didn't ask about that last night, at least I can't remember asking her. Oh well, I'll ask later.

My blurred vision settles on a yellow blob in the room, in sharp contrast to the cream of the walls and the red of the bed sheets. What the hell? I don't remember that being in there last night. Then again, I don't even know what the blob is. I strain my eyes, willing them to focus.

After a while, my vision clears and I realise that yellow blob is actually Yang, eating cereal while sitting on her bed (no milk, see? I knew I wasn't alone). In the seconds before we lock eyes, I ask myself how to approach this again. Umm, what would Yang do? I mean, if I can replicate that pretty well, I'll be good, right?

Our eyes meet, and, in spite of my better judgement, I shoot Yang with finger guns. "Ayyy."

Yang seems bemused for a second, then smiles sleepily and waves. "Hey, Com" she says through a yawn. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah, I slept alright. You?" I stretch my body, stiff from sleeping on the floor once again. I'm going to have to get a goddamn mattress soon enough, come on. Then again, it is entirely up to me. Seriously, I need to stop being a lazy little shit and bring up a fucking mattress.

"I slept well enough. Still a little sore after...you know." Yang winks. I knew she wouldn't be uncomfortable discussing it like Ruby, Blake or (presumably) Weiss. I recall the events of last night and, not recalling using a condom, have a mini heart attack. I am too young and too irresponsible to be a father.

"Yang, did you-"

"Yes, don't worry, I took a morning-after pill before you woke up." She studies my panicked face with some curiosity. "I don't think you'd be half-bad as a dad though, Com."

"You better not mean anything by that. No way in hell I could take care of a kid, I can hardly take care of myself." I head to the shower to clean myself up for the day, when Yang calls out to me.

"The girls will be back soon. What do we tell them?"

"Uhhhh...what _do_ we tell them? Does it matter?"

"I think we should just be honest. They're not stupid, they probably know what happened already."

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good. They won't mind, right?"

"Why would they? We've already done it, so why lie?"

Yang's right on this one. Honesty, despite my doubts, is important to any relationship. And I'm also a terrible liar.

. . . . .

"Guys, this is big." Ruby's serious, doing her little version of a scowl. If even Ruby's being serious about it, whatever she's been talking about is probably important and worth paying attention to. I would be paying attention but the withdrawal's still affecting me, and this fucking headache's stopping me from focusing.  
"Umm...remind me again? I'm really sorry, my head is fucking killing me." I say this, rubbing my temple with my hand.

"Oh. It's fine, Com. But why?" Ruby asks with her head slightly tilted.

"I haven't been able to smoke, and the headache's a result. You guys have any smokes over here?" My pained expression must cause them to take this issue seriously, because all of them look like they're deep in thought.

"We have them over here, but we're all too young to buy them legally. But you're from another dimension, so you could probably lie to them and say you need them for whatever reason." Blake's idea sounds fine in concept, but there's one major flaw in her logic.

"Yeah, I thought of that, but I'm not a good liar. It's super obvious. But I don't have much choice, so I'll do it after this meeting's over. Sorry for interrupting it."

Ruby continues speaking to us, and the other girls interject, and I try to listen in, but I'm already past my breaking point. Everything they're saying is so fucking hard to take in, and when Weiss raises her voice to shout out something, I've had just about enough. I slam my hands against the table and stand up suddenly, which not only draws attention to me but also doesn't help my headache.

"ALRIGHT, FUCK THIS SHIT. I'M OUT. Please explain this to me once I'm back because my brain feels like it's been kicked down a FLIGHT OF FUCKING STAIRS." As I stalk out of the room in a blind rage, I feel the girls looking at me with various emotions. But right now I couldn't care less. I need a fucking cigarette.

. . . . .

" _Ahhhhh_." Now that I'm not a virgin anymore, I can officially say that that feeling is better than sex. Well, not really, but it's fairly close. I contemplate this as I blow out a stream of smoke. I'm leaning on the balcony railing, looking out at Beacon Academy. I assume that some kind of no-smoking rule in the dorms. I mean, there must be, right? They were everywhere in our dimension. Besides, smoke doesn't make your room smell very nice, I know from experience. Every time someone else walked in they legitimately choked a little and I had to open a window.

I hear the click-clack of heels behind me, gradually increasing in volume. I turn and see Weiss walk out of the room and onto the balcony herself. I nod at her before turning back to the view and taking another drag. Weiss comes up next to me and also leans against the railing, looking out into the distance. We kinda stand there for a little bit, not really talking, just being there.

How am I going to approach this? Why did she come out here? To be honest, I'm not gonna try to be all smooth and take the next step so that we get into some kinda relationship with me. Weiss was always my least favourite of the girls, and she can be kind of a jerk sometimes. I'll play it safe.

"Hey. Sorry for being an arsehole in there. If you ever become an addict you'll sympathise with my plight." I take another drag and blow smoke out of the corner of my mouth as to not get any on Weiss.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Either way, we're leaving soon, so prepare to leave."

"How soon?"

"Thirty minutes. So grab your...shit." It's almost like she has to choke the word out. I guess that comes from being raised all prim and proper. This cracks me the hell up and I laugh for a solid half-minute before facing Weiss.

"Damn it, you sound so fucking adorable when you swear. The words sound all wrong, like they don't belong in your mouth. It's like a toddler trying to drive an SUV."

"W-what do you mean by that?" Weiss looks both confused and angry at me, but right now I couldn't care less. I'm just so relieved that I'm all good now. Either way, I stub out the cigarette on the railing and flick it off the balcony before heading inside, ready for whatever crazy scheme the girls have planned. I can hardly wait.

. . . . .

"You're sure? One hundred percent certain?"

"Yes Com, we're sure. We're nearly there, so stop complaining."

"I ain't complaining, just making sure we're going the right way. Because if we've hauled ass all the way over here for nothing, I'm going to be more than a little pissed off." I say this with my arms crossed in defiance. I was never a walking person, but I especially hate backtracking. I could just portal there if I knew where exactly it was, but I've never been around these parts of the city before (or I don't remember them at least). The inner city isn't a place I'd typically visit on a good day, but I've got team RWBY with me and I don't have a choice.

We come across a set of doors that look oddly familiar. Music seems to be pulsing from the inside, and I catch little glimpses of multicoloured flashing lights underneath the door, which I probably would've missed at daytime. They're pretty conspicuous at night though, enough to make me a little dizzy.

We approach the door and the bouncer gets halfway through a greeting spiel before noticing Yang and booking it inside. Oh, aight. I know what's happening now.

"Junior's club, hey? What do you hope to find here?"

"Any information to lead us to the culprits who destroyed those robots."

Let me fill you in, dear reader. When the girls went camping, they found a pile of the security robots' headless bodies, all cut up, with some of the chips and motherboards removed from the main body. Only a couple of heads were left, the ones broken beyond any use, which picked up some voices and a couple of hazy pictures. All of this data's now on our Scrolls and we're figuring out who did it. Then we can fuck them up.

I try the door, to no avail. It's completely barricaded shut. I turn to face the girls. "We can do this loudly or we can do this quietly. What'll it be?"

The girls readying their weapons gives me all of the answers I need. I create a tear in front of the door, through which a giant gloved fist flies out, punching the door clean off it's hinges and breaking off segments of the wall. We step over the rubble and come to another door, which Yang simply shoots down with her Ember Celica. Entering the club, I'm momentarily stunned by all the flashing lights. Six seconds and six bullets later, there are six less lights to bother me.

Henchmen in uniform surround us from all sides, looking concerned. This has happened once or twice before, hasn't it? They have a right to be nervous, because I'm already pretty irritable as is.

"Alright, arseholes. Drop your weapons and nobody has to die. We just want to have a little word with your boss. Got it?" My scowl, my portals and my team seems to scare about half of the henchmen into backing off. A couple of them look to have pissed themselves.  
One cocky-looking henchman that seems to lead the rest of the henchmen doesn't falter. "Sorry, shortie. We only take orders from the boss. Now run along, it's past your bedti- _AAaArrGgHh._ " Poor bastard seems to have trouble getting his words out with the aforementioned giant hand choking him and slamming him against a wall. He's only bleeding a little bit so I don't feel too bad for him.

"BACK. OFF. I could kill you right here and right now, you know?" To emphasize this point I hold the barrel of my revolver against the head henchman's temple as tears escape his eyes and he gasps for air. "Don't make me. Don't attempt to be the hero you aren't. Think of your family." I notice his wallet on the ground, which I pick up and rummage around in, taking the Liens and pulling out an old photo of a teenage girl. "Who is this?" I hold the photo up to him.

"Th-that's my daughter. Her n-name's Ilia."

"Hmm. She's cute. I can see she didn't get your genes. Do you want to see her again? Do you?" He nods, the tears flowing again. "Yes, I'm sure you do, don't you? Tell your men to back the fuck up and you can go see Ilia again, alright? You and your family will be safe."

I release him and he doubles over, vomiting on the dance floor. I pat him on the back as he's doing so, a resigned expression on my face. "It's alright, buddy, it's alright. Just do as we say and this'll all be over."

"D-do as he says, boys. Please." The henchman picks himself up and retrieves both his nearly empty wallet and the picture of his daughter from me, then scampering away from us in the direction of the bathroom, presumably to continue vomiting.

I turn my attention to the others. "You heard your boss, didn't you? Back off. We only need a minute with the owner of this establishment. Nobody will be harmed this way." The men separate like the Red Sea, leaving a way towards a large door, dropping their weapons in the process. Picking up a couple of each type and chucking them into my inventory dimension, I gesture for the girls to follow me. They look fucking shellshocked but they come along anyways. Once we're through the main area and into the corridor that leads to Junior's office, the silence is broken by a terrified-looking Ruby.

"C-Com, are y-you..."

I sigh and look at Ruby, a neutral look on my face. "I'm fine, Ruby. I just have a certain way of getting shit done. I wasn't going to kill him, I just needed him to get everyone to back the hell up and leave us well alone. I'm not taking any chances." A baseball bat is a more appropriate weapon for this situation, so I reholster my revolver and pull out the metal club as we walk towards his office. But before we make our entrance, two girls with dark hair and strapless dresses block our path. They seem pretty pissed off with us, but not nearly as pissed as me.

"Listen here Melanie, Miltia. I'll say this once and once only. Get out the way or I'll kill you." But before I can create a tear, Melanie runs at me and kicks me square in the chest, knocking me back ten or so metres and winding me. As I struggle to regain my breath and my Aura (already down a third), Miltia swipes at my face with her claw weapons. Luckily I manage to block it with my bat and shoot her once in the face, stunning me for long enough to allow me to recover and put a reasonable amount of distance between us. Yang and Weiss step in for a moment, Yang taking on Miltia and Weiss battling Melanie, trading blows and strikes. Fuming now, I create three tears, and out of two come giant gloved fists. The other one I keep behind me in case I need it.

As Miltia goes in to punch Yang in the head, I shoot her twice in the leg and grab her with one of the hands, holding her in position as the other fist smashes into her at a speed that breaks a hole in the floor. But before I can beat her head in with my bat, Melanie breaks from her fight with Weiss and blade kicks me on the side of the head before roundhousing me in the gut, making me double over. As she prepares to finish me, she is sandwiched between the two massive hands, meaning that only a severely weakened Miltia is currently able to fight now that I've released my grip on her. I look over at team RWBY, kind of just standing there now.

"Girls, I need to cool down or I'm going to end up executing somebody who doesn't deserve it. Take care of them for a little bit, okay?" I say this while lighting a cigarette and walking into a portal to my personal chill room. "I won't be a minute."

. . . . .

"Fuck me, what the hell happened here?" The corridor is hardly a corridor any more, considering half the walls and a good portion of the ceiling aren't really here. The girls look fine, apart from Melanie and Miltia, who are down for the count, perhaps even unconscious. I give Melanie a subtle, unnoticeable kick in the face as I walk to the rest of my team, stepping over piles of rubble and rocket shells.

"Well, we've got all the information we needed, the possible location of a base-of-operations. Apparently the people who destroyed the robots were a group of ex-White-Fang members, people who quit because they didn't like being controlled all the time." Blake says this in a relatively calm manner, running her hand through her black hair.

"Aight, good on you guys. And Junior?" Yang gestures with her head to Junior, tied up in the corner. I walk over to him, cut his ropes and help him to his feet. "Shit, mate, you alright? You look proper out of it."

"Yes, I'm fine." He turns his attention to the rest of team RWBY, clearly angry as hell but too weakened to fight. "You're going to regret this, girls."

"Buddy, my friends simply wanted to have a discussion with you. We were stopped by your two female associates, who attacked us, completely unprovoked, might I add." I'll not mention the part where I threaten to kill them, that might count against me and this nice-guy dynamic.

"It still isn't right." Junior mumbles to himself as he slogs back to his destroyed office, almost tripping over the little piles of rubble littered everywhere. But before he disappears, I find myself calling out to him.

"Hey, Junior. Who's your lead henchman? The one whose daughter's called Ilia?"

"That'll probably be Cada. Why?"

"Give him a payrise, man. He bloody deserves it, man. He's got a daughter, it can't be easy."

He regards me with an expression that I can't quite dissect, before giving a subtle nod and disappearing behind the office doors.

"Ahh, fucking _hell_. Anyone know a good bar around here? I need a stiff drink ASAP."

"Who ARE you, Com?!" Weiss looks really frustrated. I guess I haven't really let up on the tough guy act since we entered the club, and I tend to be like that whenever I'm angry, so maybe she's confused about my true personality? God, why can't people just accept things at face value? I face her, my face haggard.

"I act tough in these situations because I feel like I need to do that to intimidate people. Because I'm short. And weak-looking. And insecure. That's it. You guys don't have that problem because when you act normally you still have a presence. I don't. There. Happy now?" Weiss seems to regret saying anything and begins to apologise, but I cut her off. "It's fine. Now, can I please go and get a mojito? Or a whiskey, whatever. Do you know where they serve them? I don't think this club will be serving us any time soon."

Yang shakes her head and smiles at all of us. "I reckon we all could use a drink."


	8. Chapter 10: A Familiar Face

Chapter Ten: A Familiar Face

We ended up going to a bar only a couple of blocks down from Junior's club. We're underage but the bartender was willing to turnea blind eye if we gave him a little tip, which I payed with the money I borrowed from Cada's wallet. I'm currently sitting alone sipping a mojito (fucking delicious, this universe knows it's way around alcohol), listening to the comedian performing in one part of the bar. The girls are over in the area with the musician singing what sounds like songs from various musicals. Judging by the raucous singing I can determine that a) the girls are probably singing along with everyone else, b) the girls are probably drunk now, or at least mildly tipsy, and c) I must stay away from that area of the bar. As well as not being the biggest fan of singalongs, I don't like singing when there are other people around. When I'm alone I have no reservations to poorly belting out my favourite songs, whether in the shower, doing homework or cranking one out (other people do that too, right? I'm not weird?), but when other people are around I get really nervous and kind of clam up. Probably something to do with a fear of being judged, but I've gradually lost my ability to give a shit. Maybe if I get smashed enough I can join them.

The comedian finishes his set (it was pretty good, one joke about pissing in his workplace water cooler made me nearly piss myself) and I stand up and walk to the bartender.

"Whiskey, on the rocks. As strong as you have. And be quick about it, I'm not drunk enough." The bartender doesn't seem to care, she just nods turns her back for a minute, filling up a crystal cut glass pretty close to the brim with some dark amber whiskey, before handing it to me. In exchange I hand over a fair amount of Liens and ask for two more. As they're being prepared I proceed to pour the entire thing down my gullet. I was never a massive fan of the taste of alcohol, but if it provides me a good time I'm more than up for a couple of drinks.

Taking the other two glasses in hand, I walk over to the musical area of the bar. It's a nice place, fairly old-fashioned for being in the inner city, with pleasant decor that matches the mostly wooden walls and floors. I spy the girls, with arms around each other, singing what sounds like a sea shanty with the other bar-goers. I myself do not partake in this, and simply pull up a chair and drink my whiskies. Hmm, Weiss and Blake wouldn't typically do this. I can see Weiss and Ruby doing it, but Blake's too serious and Weiss is too posh. I therefore assume that they're definitely drunk, no doubt about it.

Feeling myself beginning to get a little drunk, I decide to offset the effects a little bit by mixing it with some MonStar, pulling the can from a tear and pouring its contents inside my half-finished second glass.

"HEY, COM!" I look up from the bottom of my glass to notice the girls all waving at me, looking happy like only a couple of underage drunks can. I'm not really the happy type of drunk, but I'm feeling pretty good, so after draining the remainder of my drinks dry, my feet end up walking me over to them.

The girls all seem to be reacting in a similar way, they're all chuckling and giggling (apart from Blake, who's looking pretty unchanged). I sit with them on a round table and just observe what they say and do. More and more I've begun noticing that people act differently when they're drunk. Or that's what I originally thought, before I got drunk myself and realised that all alcohol does is allow your true self to emerge, the self you try to keep hidden from the public. Yang alternates between sipping a daiquiri, gossiping and making flirty, suggestive comments about the passers-by, me, the cute male bartender in this part of the bar (no homo), or the girls in that totally non-romantic way girls do (guys never do that, I've noticed. You can't just say to one of your friends 'you've got great eyebrows' or some shit, because then you immediately get labeled a faggot. I know this because it's happened). Weiss seems to have let her hair down a bit, both metaphorically and literally, undoing her ponytail and letting her long hair loose. I don't know, she looks better like that, in my humble opinion. She seems to be enjoying her cocktail (I believe that's what classifies as a Manhattan in my dimension), which looks really good. She begrudgingly obliges me a few sips though, proof that she's softening up to me a little. Blake doesn't seem to be drinking anything stronger than sake, so perhaps that's why she appears sober? Or maybe she's just a heavyweight, I'm not sure. Either way, she still looks like she's having fun.

I'm a little concerned about Ruby though. She seems to be trying out a variety of cocktails in shot glasses, kind of like a sampling platter. I took her for a lightweight when I first saw her, and my assumption has now been validated. She's not even halfway through the platter and she already looks out of it. It's probably time to intercept. But instead of taking direct action, I consult the rest of the team about it.

"Ehh, she'll be fine. Don't worry about it, Commy." Yang's face is quite red, and she proceeds to boop me on the nose with her index finger as she giggles profusely. "Aww, you're so cute when you're worried." Great, now my face is going red. Just in case, I ask the relatively sober Blake to keep an eye on her.

I go to light a cigarette before I notice a no-smoking sign above the bar door. "'Scuse me, girls. I need a smoke. I'll be outside if you need me." I attempt to walk in a straight line to the door, but the three whiskeys and the mojito are making that a slightly more difficult task than usual. Once I'm outside I search my pockets and my pocket dimensions for my lighter, can't exactly light up without it. Turns out one of the girls must have it or something, or maybe I left it inside. Better not have lost it, it had this cool holographic image of the Union Jack on it (best flag in the world. Fight me). Well, time to ask some strangers. Or maybe someone has a fire semblance or some fire Dust or something.

I spot a guy walking down the street in a navy bomber jacket and jeans. He looks like he might smoke, so I (attempt to) run up to him and tap him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, would you happen to have a lighter on you?"

The guy shifts his gaze from the ground to my face, and a pang of recollection shoots through me for a second. He might just look like him, there's no guarantee it's actually him. I'll ask him though, just to make sure. "E-Eadie, is that you?"

"Well, I was me last time I checked." A wave of relief washes through me. Thank God, one of my old friends came here with me.

"Man, so good to see you around here! How've you been holding up?" We bump fists and lead into a manly hug, complete with back slapping and all. "You have any idea how we got here?"

I probably should've been able to spot Eadie from a mile away. He's actually pretty similar in looks to me, only taller and leaner, with darker-shaded hair. It's like we were once one well-rounded person who was split into two. Eadie's the tall, confident one, and I'm the short, insecure one. He's always busy with some girl problems or other. His heterochromia and his Australian accent along with his build makes him a magnet for women, while I always felt left out. It's changed over here though, hasn't it?

"I've been doing pretty well for myself over here, Be-" My hand claps over his mouth before he can finish his sentence. We both hate our first names, which is why he and I preferred to be called by our middle and last names in our dimension. But a fresh start over here was welcome.

"Shut. I'm not called that over here. In Remnant my name is Com. It's a chance for a fresh start, with a less stupid name."

"Suit yourself, Com. I'll stick with Eadie from here on out. Soooo...what the actual fuck happened? How did we get over here exactly? Where are we?" Eadie's face radiates the confusion I felt mere days ago.

"Well, I'm not entirely certain, but I know we were somehow transported into another dimension. This version of Earth is called Remnant and we're living in Vale." I get a bright idea. "Oh, I know! You should enrol to Beacon Academy! It's awesome, way cooler than normal schools, and you can fight monsters! I've been enrolled for about a week now, maybe a little more, and it's fucking awesome. I'll vouch for you!"

"Uhhm, Com? You aren't normally this enthusiastic. Have you been drinking?"

"You know me so well. Yes, I have been. A lot. I'm out with my team, you see, after we nearly destroyed a nightclub. It's a long story."

Eadie considers this for a while. "Well, should I meet them? Is it a good idea?"

"They're completely smashed right now, so probably not. But do you have anywhere to stay?"

"No, no, I've been sleeping rough ever since I got here. I did some grunt work to keep myself fed, but I didn't earn enough to afford a room in a motel or anything."

"Well then, you can stay over with us for the night. We'll see if we can find you some accommodation in Beacon. You'll probably have a permanent home there if you enrol."

"Sure. If it's not too much trouble. Man, I'm really glad to see you. Feels like forever since I've seen a familiar face."

"Yeah, same. Just don't go about telling people my real name, aight? This is a fresh start for you too, so make the most of it."

. . . . .

I awake to a shrill shriek from what sounds like Weiss. Ugh, not this shit again.

"For fuck's sake, Weiss, keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep." I try to get comfortable again, but my pillow isn't anywhere within reach, so I give up and just lie flat on my face on the floor. No way I'm getting back to sleep anyway, so this is as good of an alternative as any.

"Th-there's another person in here! What the heck happened last night? Com?" Weiss looks towards me, a look of desperate confusion in her pale blue eyes. The other girls are awake as well now, also visibly confused.

I respond by grunting and heaving myself off the floor. "That'll be Eadie. No need to worry, he's with me. I brought him home early and you guys were so plastered you didn't notice him when you eventually got back from the bar. You're no lightweights, but lay off the alcohol a little, hey? Know your limits." Trudging over to Eadie, I spot him using my pillow. Ohh, so that's why I didn't have one last night. Either I gave it to him or he stole it. The events of last night are still a little hard to recall. That's what three whiskeys and a mojito will do to a man of my stature.

There's no better wake-up call then a kick in the guts, but I somehow think that Eadie would disagree. Either way he's awake now, if winded and shocked. "That's for three weeks ago, man. Get your ass up, we've got introductions to do." I reach out my hand, which Eadie takes, and I help him up like the good friend I am.

"Yeah, we're even now, Com. Wondering when you'd get me back for that." Now that he's conscious, he focuses on the four girls. "And to whom do I have the pleasure of waking up to?"

"Don't get any ideas, you crafty bastard. These are my lovely teammates. Eadie, meet Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Girls, meet Eadie. He was one of my best friends from my dimension. He's ended up over here as well, luckily."

Weiss and Blake seem on the back foot, not exactly jolly at the presence of Eadie. Ruby and Yang seem a lot more friendly towards him though, which I'm glad about. Ruby smiles and waves and Yang high-fives him, as I suspected she probably would. I'm sure Blake and Weiss will warm to him eventually so we can all hang out together. That'll be a lot of fun if we can. Hopefully he also gets along with team JNPR, because I kind of organised something between them.

"So, Eadie. While you were sleeping I arranged among the teachers to keep you here on a trial period. For now you'll be staying with team JNPR, so don't be a dick. I know that's harder than it sounds though, just try your best."

Eadie grins and playfully punches me on the bicep, which actually hurts a little (that probably got rid of 1/10th of my Aura, thinking about it). "Yeah, yeah, can do. I'll go introduce myself when I can. Umm, do I need a school uniform or something?"

"Well, while you're on your trial period, your standard clothes will be fine. Although," I look at Eadie from the top of his head to his feet, "maybe invest in some new casual clothes? Your current threads aren't lookin' great." The bomber jacket, while in one piece and decent-looking, doesn't really fit the look of Remnant. His jeans have more holes in them than the average fishing net. They're basically only half there. He'll need something new eventually, so he may as well start this new life afresh. "Don't worry, I'll pay. I hunted down a Nevermore with the girls a few days back, so I'll use my share of the profit on you. Besides, I'm not dragging you around looking like that."

Eadie looks at me grudgingly as I walk towards the door. "Does this mean we're going shopping?"

"Yep. But you're getting a weapon, so cheer up." There's a flurry of activity behind me, and as I turn my head Eadie bolts past me out the door, with a spring in his step that I've never seen before. This'll be interesting.

. . . . .

"Nope, you look like a total dumbass. You don't swing it, you stab, thrust and pierce with it. It's a rapier, you're gonna end up breaking it."

"Umm, like this then?"

"No, what the hell's that? My grandfather could attack better than you, and he's wheelchair-bound and can't remember his own name."

Blake looks over at us. "Don't be so harsh, Com. He's new to this, and you were there a while ago."

"You need to be a little less sympathetic, Blake. This is an important decision, and it's my money we're spending. So if he fucks it up I've wasted a lot of Liens."

I sigh. Eadie's strong, no doubting that, he just lacks finesse. All of these light weapons won't work here.

"Eadie, heads up!" Eadie manages to turn around and raise his arms just in time to avoid being smacked in the head by a tower shield. "Let's be blunt here; you're strong, but slow. You're powerful but unskilled. So I think a heavy defense build would be most suitable for you. This is a tower shield. You can block many attacks with this, meaning that speed is less of an issue. Couple that with some heavy armour and a suitable sword and you've got yourself a gladiatorial combination that I think will suit you perfectly."

Eadie, after attaching it to his arm, moves around with it, lowering and raising his guard. It seems quick enough to be viable in combat, and I pass him a bundle of Liens.

"Look, I'm fucking done. This hangover isn't gonna do me any good. Buy that, some armour and a weapon. Blake," I turn my attention to the Faunus, who's taken to staring at the ground looking uncomfortable, "make sure he doesn't mess up, alright? If he does the blame's on you." Walking out the door, I raise the back of my hand in a farewell. "And if you don't give me back the change I'll kick you into the next dimension."

. . . . .

Author's Note: Kachow, my male and non-male readers. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More will be uploaded in two days. That schedule of one chapter per two days will continue until I run out of stockpiled chapters, and when that happens I'll just upload them as soon as I write them.

So I introduced a new character today, Eadie Galwey. I felt like it was about time for someone from Com's past to show up, especially someone like Eadie. He'll become quite important later on in the story, so look forward to that I guess. See you guys later.


	9. Chapter 11: Typical Day

Chapter Eleven: Typical Day

"I just think you're a little mean to him, Com. Waking him up by kicking him, calling him names, critiquing him so heavily. Is it really necessary?" Blake and I are walking side-by-side, on our way to our next class. This comment seems to have come a little out of left field. I look at her and shake my head.

"You see, Blake, it's a little different for us. Me and Eadie are not only close friends who have known each other for years at this point, but we have cocks. That changes everything. Do you know why?"

"Umm, what? How does being a man change anything?" Blake looks fairly confused now, as many women are when they are about to understand the inner workings of the male.

"Well, typically, guys are much less sensitive than women. While you're endearing to your female friends by complementing them, we guys insult and deprecate. It's a form of flattery. Eadie does the same to me, and I do it back. It shows how good our friendship is. Let me put it this way; what would you tell your friend if she told you she got a partner who loves her?"

Blake thinks for a sec before responding. "I'd probably congratulate her and say I was happy for her."

"Well the classic male response is to ask if our friend's partner is either blind or insane. That's the male way, I guess." I light a cigarette and offer it to Blake, who politely refuses. My response comes in the form of a shrug and a long drag, followed by gazing into the middle-distance.

"Why do you smoke?"

"Hmm?" I kind of tuned out for a second there. "Come again?"

"I asked why you smoked?"

"I'm an addict, you see. I don't want to, but I kind of have to now. Same with caffeine and alcohol, but less so in my case. Eadie's dabbled with it in the past but he's clean now." I sigh. That sigh's laced with a lot of regret and emotion, along with a little smoke. "Probably not a good idea to get involved."

I feel a tap on my shoulder. Probably one of the girls. Turning around, I see that it's not actually a girl at all, but Jaune and Eadie. He's wearing full gladiatorial armor this time (his helmet's even got that cool red plume), with a bulky sword attached to a sheath at his hip. He's wearing the shield on his back like a turtle wears it's shell.

"Nice, dude. That's what I'm talking about right there. How's school been so far?" We bump fists, then transition into an upwards handshake. Blake looks on incredulously as if observing a bizarre ritual.

"It's been alright so far. Jaune and Pyrrha were nice enough to offer to help me learn to fight."

Jaune puts a hand to the back of his head and smiles sheepishly. "I don't know how helpful I'm going to be on that front, but Pyrrha insisted on having me there. Don't know why though."

For God's sake, are you ever going to catch on, Jaune? The only way Pyrrha could make it more obvious would be to erect a neon arrow pointing to her vagina. Jaune turns his attention from me to Blake. "Didn't you say that you were going on some kind of raid tonight?" he mutters under his breath. Blake nods in response. Oh yeah, that.

"Hey, Eadie. We're going to be away for the last class, and we might be away for the morning. If we're not back by lunchtime we're probably dead. But keep it quiet, alright?" Eadie simply nods.

"Alright." Classic Eadie. He's always been overly relaxed, so his response doesn't set off any alarms. "If you don't mind telling me, what are you doing?"

Glancing at Blake out of the corner of my eye, she shakes her head. This is the moment of truth. Do I lie to my old friend or do I betray my new friends? Maybe I could meet both of them halfway?

"I can't tell you what we're doing, but I can tell you where we'll be." Blake shakes her head yet again, and my attention turns to her. "Blake, perhaps it would be in our best interest to have a person who knows where we'll be? If we get stuck there he can send backup. Maybe that isn't a terrible idea." Blake raises her hand to protest, but she reconsiders and hands Eadie a map with scribbles, marks and coordinates on it, all drawn in fat red marker.

"Here's where we'll be. But," Blake moves suddenly, drawing her Gambol Shroud and lightly pressing the sharp blade against Eadie's neck, "if you tell anyone there'll be hell to pay."

Eadie's face morphs from one of complete apathy to a smirk. Without hesitation, he knees Blake in the stomach, doubling her over. As she looks up Eadie charges her with his massive tower shield, slamming into her and sending her spiralling backwards on the floor. If I was in Blake's position I'd probably be out of Aura already, and I don't want to find out. Quick as a flash she gets back on her feet. The two run at each other, weapons out, which is the moment when I make the executive decision to slap the two into the air simultaneously with my Tear Hands (register trademark). They cough and splutter, taken completely my surprise. I put on my coldest front and prepare for a little speech.

"That's enough, both of you. Blake, don't threaten my friend. Eadie, don't hurt my friends. Now, maybe you can try to get along. Or if not, at least tolerate each other."

The two of them mumble apologetically under their breaths (apologising to me, not to the other perpetrator, I notice). I offer my normal hands and help to pull the two off the ground. "Guys, we're adults. We can act like them. Now, Blake, let's go. We've got shit to do. Eadie, keep it quiet please. We can't get anyone else involved. This is deep shit, you understand? Knee deep."

"Knee deep." he repeats and nods. "Got it. Good luck, you two. Oh," at this he extends his hand towards Blake, "I'm sorry, Blake. We got off on the wrong foot, so let's redo this. Hi, I'm Eadie. Nice to meet you." Eadie smiles, a smile that looks genuine enough. Blake responds by lightly tapping his open palm with her knuckles.

"Blake. Sorry about that. I'll see you around." With that, she turns sharply and walks off.

"The hell's up with her?"

"Don't even ask, Eadie. We couldn't understand women in our dimension, there's little to no chance that'll happen here."

I notice that Jaune's just been standing back, watching the whole spectacle, awe etched onto his face. Eadie rejoins him and they begin heading off, presumably to train. I shout at both of them before they leave my field of vision. "I'll see you guys around. Up for a tournament soon?" They both turn and nod their heads in response.

Huh. The more I think I know about my team, the more chances they have to surprise me. Well, I can agree with both Blake and Eadie on one thing. It's nice to start again once in awhile.

. . . . .

"We're leaving in an hour, Com. In the meantime, get your stuff ready."

"On it, Blake. Do you have a copy of the plan laying about anywhere? I want to make sure I don't stuff up."

"Uhh, I have one, but I'll need it. I'll go run off a copy." And with that Blake disappears to get another copy of the plan, the click-clacking of her heels gradually fading into the distance. I look over to Yang, the only one left in the room.

"Oi Yang. How the fuck can Weiss and Blake fight in heels?" I'm lying on Ruby's bunk bed, since she isn't here, and it's more comfortable than the floor. Ruby and Weiss are making a few last-minute preparations with team JNPR in their room, so Ruby'll never know. Plus I like bunk beds, they're so much more fun than other beds, while less practical for one person's use. Yang is sitting on her bunk, reading one of Blake's 'adult novels'. It's strange how women get off when compared to men. While men have 'special-interest gentlemen's films' and 'fine-quality gentleman's periodicals', women seem to prefer literature and other similar mediums. It works, sure, it just doesn't seem as effective. Not lewd enough for my sensibilities.

"I have no idea, Com. I tried to, but I tripped over and fell more times then I successfully landed a hit. I wouldn't recommend it."

"Well, duh, I'm no crossdresser, I don't need to worry about that. Is that book any good?"

"Yeah, it's alright. I'm not actually reading the book properly, I've just skipped to a lewd section."

My interest now piqued, I lean on one arm to get a direct view of Yang. "What's happening right now."

"You don't want to know." Yang says with a devilish grin.

"I do though."

"I warned you. I'll read a segment. ' _He took her in his manly arms, wrapping her nearly-naked body in a tight embrace._ ' Want me to continue?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"' _He ripped off her black panties, part of her uniform, and proceeded to_ ***#^$*#** _her_ **$# &!&*$** _till she_ **& #($!^** _all over the floor._ ' Well, I never suspected that Blake would be such a closet freak."

I jump off of the bed and snatch the book out of Yang's hands. "I need to borrow this for a second."

"Okay, why though?"

"I need to crank one out so that I don't need to worry about bone-ons while on the mission. 'Scuse me." I bustle towards the bathrooms and close the door. My trousers are round my ankles when I hear a knock on the door. I sigh heavily. "Yang, don't you know not to interrupt a man during his special happy time?"

"Well, Com, maybe instead of using that book, I could help out instead?" Yang says this in her most innocent voice, like she was volunteering to draw me a bath or make me some tea.

"Ughgh. Fiiiine. If you _have_ to." YES YES YES YES YES. I reach over and unlock the door, letting Yang in. She gazes into my eyes with some serious intensity as her hand strays into...particularly delicate areas, and begins stroking me (for lack of a better description). As Yang's hand motions increase in intensity and rapidity, my breathing follows suit. This continues for four or so minutes, and I get incredibly close to letting go at a couple of points, but I tough it out, because it looks like both Yang and myself are enjoying ourselves.

"Umm..." I look over to the origin of the voice, and I notice several things at once:

We neglected to close the door to the bathroom.

We neglected to lock either door.

Blake, Weiss and Ruby have all entered the room.

They are all looking at us with mixtures of shock and (in Blake's case, at least,) slight arousal.

While I'm staring right back at them, Yang hasn't noticed yet.

"U-umm, Yang?"

"Hmm?" Yang stops momentarily and looks at my panicked face as I gesture with my eyes towards the other girls. She catches on after a second and makes eye contact with the girls, releasing me from her hold. I quickly pull my pants and trousers back up, coughing loudly.

"Hi."

Weiss, Blake and Ruby don't respond even a little, still staring at us. Yang seems a little irritated.

"What? Can't you tell that we're busy? You ever heard of knocking?"

"Uhhhhh, the door was open...sooooo..." Ruby looks incredibly uncomfortable, and I don't blame her one bit, considering she just walked in on her half-sister giving their teammate a wristy.

"That's true, I guess...next time, we should probably do that, Com."

"Hey, don't look at me! You entered last! But I'll keep it in mind." I hear Jaune's voice down the hall, along with various footsteps, increasing in volume. "Hey guys, what's the holdup? We're going to be late!"

"Uh, c-coming, Jaune, sorry. Something kinda cropped up." Well, shit. I just succeeded in making the upcoming mission much more awkward. Oh well, Yang doesn't seem embarrassed at all, she even looks a little proud, giving me a cheeky smile and a wink as we leave to get our weapons. If she's not embarrassed, then I shouldn't be either.

. . . . .

Time for a cheeky double upload since this chapter was shorter than most. Look out for that.


	10. Chapter 12: Stealth Is An Option

Chapter Twelve: Stealth is an Option

"Well, at least we've got proper transportation this time." We're taking a private coach into the industrial area of the city, towards the location of the rogue branch's operations. We've decided to scout out the area first, then decide what to do after we know what we're up against. As for me, I'll just go along with whatever they tell me to do. It's awkward enough as it is right now, I don't want to make anything worse.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that one, Com." Ruby polishes Crescent Rose with a rag used for bus maintenance that the owner was kind enough to let her borrow. "Hey, couldn't you just make a tear to wherever we're going?"

"It's not that simple. I don't know where my portal will end up unless I've been there before and I know for definite where it is in relation to me and blah blah blah. Also it's convenient for the narrative."

"Ahh." Ruby nods her head in understanding. "Who's paying for this bus by the way?"

"Not entirely sure, but considering the service she's getting, my money's on Weiss." She's sitting in a first-class premium seat eating haute cuisine served by a butler. This is a nice enough bus as is, but none of us could afford this apart from Weiss with her seemingly never ending resources provided to her by her father. I open up the window to the bus and light up, so that I don't get cravings during the mission. I need to get some of those flavoured smokes I saw at the drugstore. These ones, while reliable, don't exactly take me to Flavortown.

"Um, Com, are you allowed to do that?"

"What do you mean by that? The smoking part or the leaning-out -the-bus part?"

"Both, I guess."

"Well, the bus driver looks like he couldn't give less of a shit if he tried, so I'll say it's allowed."

"C-could I maybe have some?"

"You mean you want a smoke? Why, exactly?"

"I feel pretty nervous, and you say that cigarettes help you relax, right?"

"Well, yeah, they do, but it's a bad idea."

"Why do you do it then, if it's a bad idea?" Ruby looks genuinely confused at this point. Aww, she's so damn innocent and adorable.

"Pardon? Did you just say I was adorable?" Oh shit I said that out loud didn't I. Do I stick with it or play it off? Umm, my instincts are causing me a great deal of confusion, so whatever, fuck it, going in for the kill.

"Yeah, I did. That's why I can't have you smoking on my conscience. It's messed me up, and I regret it, but y'know, I don't really have the willpower to quit."

"I have plenty of willpower, I could quit." The confident look on Ruby's face is really guilt-tripping me. She wants to but I know I shouldn't. I'm consulting outside sources on this one, marching over to Yang with Ruby in tow.

"Yang, please explain to Ruby why I shouldn't lend her a smoke."

"I don't see any reason why not." Yang says this, face buried in a gossip magazine. Not sure if she's even listening, in fact I doubt it.

"Wh-what the hell do you mean? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope, what's so bad about them?" Yang still doesn't look up from her magazine. She's on a juicy page about a fling between Lisa Lavender and Spruce Willis that I'm sure is terribly important for Yang to know about. I suppose they don't really do drug education programs in Remnant. I can't imagine Yang wouldn't let Ruby smoke if she knew about it.

"Well, Ruby, I'm sorry but I'm not letting you have any. If I catch you smoking any, I'll...do something. A-and you won't like it."

Ruby shrinks down into her seat, her face a little red, probably from a mix of emotions. "Sorry, Com. I won't ask again."

Ahh, I see her game. She's trying to guilt-trip me into giving her a smoke. Well it's not going to work. I'm standing my ground on this one. No way in hell I'm giving her so much as a single drag.

"Ughh. Are we nearly there?" Weiss asks in a snooty tone of voice to the butler. Growing up with everything she ever wanted, she must struggle with patience. I struggle with patience as well, but not because of any sort of wealthy upbringing, I was relatively middle-class. I just lack self-control.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Miss Schnee. Please be patient."

Weiss loudly sighs and settles back into her luxury chair, and opens up her Scroll to...do whatever rich people do on their devices. Listen to classical pieces of music? Comment on the malodorous riff-raff to their snobbish acquaintances? Play games about pissing on the lower class? Fuck, I don't know nor do I care to know.

I look over at Blake, who's cleverly hidden one of her 'gentlewoman's special interest light novels' behind the plastic sleeve of a standard-looking thriller. Very clever, but not clever enough to fool me. I get up off my seat and plonk myself down next to her, looking over at her book, drinking in all the juicy parts. She gets visibly uncomfortable after a while, and shifts so that I can't see the pages. I respond to this by shifting so that by craning my neck I can see the pages. Blake closes the book sharply and turns to me, looking serious. I sit there, unfazed.

"Why are you so interested in my book?"

"I don't know myself." I say with a shrug. "It just interests me, that's all. Besides, why should you care?"

"I...umm..." Sufficiently embarrassed, Blake goes red and looks away, while I nod.

"Exactly. So, if you wouldn't mind, could you please open the book back up so I can read it?" Blake obliges, flipping the book back onto the page we were on previously, and we both continue reading. I'm a fast reader, always have been, so I just wait for Blake to catch up before the page turns. We sit here for a while, fully engrossed, until the coach grinds to a sudden halt, now that we've reached our destination. I grab my bag from the storage compartment and step out onto the street of the industrial part of the city. The rest of my team follows suit, I can hear the click-clacking of Weiss and Blake's heels from here. Come to think of it, that might be a problem for our mission.

"Weiss, Blake, did you bring other shoes?"

"Uhhh, no. Why should we have?"

"They're loud as hell, guys. If we're going to do this quietly, then you'll either need new shoes or you'll have to go barefoot. Which'll it be?"

Blake nods and begins removing her shoes, but Weiss stomps in indignation. "I will NOT go barefoot. There's probably broken glass or syringes on the floor!"

She's grabbed from behind and lifted into the air by one of my Tear Hands, as the other one slips her heels off of her feet, while one more stops her from lashing out and kicking. I grab her shoes from Lefty and throw them into our duffel bag, full of other group equipment. "Well, now that's over with, how about we get on with this?"

Weiss pouts but starts walking anyways. The warehouse isn't very far away from here, just a five minute or so walk away, so I take the group duffel bag while everyone else carries their individual weapon or weapons. My Scroll vibrates and I pull it out of my pocket to check who's texting me. Turns out it's Jaune, notifying our team that they'll be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes or so. Guess we'll have a little bit of time to wait, get prepared, whatever. I, however, head into a nearby abandoned warehouse to smash some shit up. It's a certain type of catharsis.

Since I don't feel like it's late enough to be stealthy yet, I grab my baseball bat out of a Tear and, with one solid swing, knock the rusted warehouse doors open. We're far enough away so that I don't need to worry about detection from the splinter group. Stepping inside the abandoned warehouse, my eye wanders from one side to the other, trying to see what I can discover and subsequently blow up. My eyes, however, fall on a few stacks of crates in the corner of the warehouse, which I proceed to smash to bits with my bat. They splinter into planks and shards with every swing. That's satisfying as fuck.

"Hmm?" It seems that there's some kind of flashing coming from within the wrecked remains of the crates. Kicking a few planks aside, I discover a few...actually, I'm not sure what they are. They seem like some kind of metal cores, about the size of a small football (or soccer ball, depending on your nationality), with a little red LED light attached to them. I strain my ears and can only hear an incredibly faint sound, then again I might be imagining things.

I reopen the warehouse doors and have a mini heart-attack. Blake is lying on the ground, covering her cat ears with her hands, her eyes closed and face scrunched up in what seems to be incredible pain. The girls are all surrounding her, looking worried as shit.

"Blake, oh my God! What happened, guys?" I cast a desperate look at Weiss, who's properly freaking out now.

"I-I don't know, she just randomly collapsed holding her ears."

This catches my attention, and I run back inside the warehouse, grabbing the cores from the pile of wooden shards and planks that were once crates. I pull out a recent acquisition of mine, a beautiful greathammer with rockets on it's back, allowing for incredibly powerful attacks. Charging up, I slam it down on the cores, shattering them instantaneously and causing the ground around me to tremble. Little bits of debris and rubble tumble from the sky, and I hear the walls of the ancient warehouse start to creak. One swing of the hammer later and I book it out of there, as the warehouse tumbles in on itself. It was nothing more than rusty corrugated iron, and a blow that powerful could've probably destroyed most stone walls, so that result was to be expected.

My run slows to a jog as I reapproach the girls. Blake seems to be better now, dragging herself to her feet, while the girls help her up.

"Blake, are you OK? What the hell happened?"

Blake takes a second to respond. "Uuuuugghhh...a high-pitched sound, I think...very, very loud..." She winces and rubs the sides of her face. "Did you guys...hear anything or set anything off, by chance?"

"Ohhhhh. Okay. We have a problem here. When that warehouse went down, did the sound go away?"

"Uhh, yeah, I think..."

"Alright then. These people are more well-equipped than we think. When I was in there, I found these cores with little flashy LED lights on them. If I'm not mistaken, they emitted a loud high-pitched sound. That explains why only Blake could hear it. Umm, you guys didn't hear it, right?" They all shake their heads in near-perfect unison. "Well I think, and maybe I'm wrong here, but I think that the splinter group will use them to incapacitate Faunuses to commit some kinds of crime."

"Like?" Weiss enquires. It'll take a while to convince them, but I don't have all the facts myself, this is all speculation.

"Fuck, I don't know. You got any other suggestions?" The girls' silence tells me all I need to know. "Well until we know better, that's what we'll assume, alright?"

Blake interjects, now fully recovered. "These guys may be better equipped than we were anticipating. We've got to be extra careful not to get caught."

"Well, if we're spotted, we immediately either engage or book it out of there, got it?" I say, serious. "We can't afford to lose anyone. Also, if one of us gets spotted, the rest of us need to get the fuck out as soon as possible. They'll be on high alert after just one person."

Everyone nods, and after about a minute or so team JNPR's bus rolls up, the wheels screeching it to a halt. Jaune doesn't look too good, then again the pilot episode kind of addressed that, didn't it? Either way, we're all here.

"Good to see we're all he-umm, Eadie?"

Eadie walks off the bus, his heavy armour making his footsteps ridiculously loud. The girls look pretty pissed off, while I just look confused.

"Umm, was Eadie not supposed to come with us?" Nora says, pointing to Eadie with the hand not holding her hammer.

"Well, that was the plan, at least, but we can work with this. Who are our heavy hitters here?" I survey the teams to find any suggestions. "Umm, I reckon Yang, Eadie, Nora and I will go together. Here's the plan: you guys sneak in and once you're in, we'll attack the front head on. This will hopefully draw the guards away, meaning you have an easier time. Sound good?"

We hold a vote and the majority agree with my plan (Weiss and Ren were the only objectors). Eadie scratches the back of his neck, looking bashful. "Sorry about this, guys. Didn't mean to throw a spanner in the works, you know?"

"Don't worry about it. Besides," I say, cracking my knuckles and grinning, "this'll be a lot more fun. You ready to fuck these guys up?"

. . . . .

DOUBLE UPLOAD DONE, NORMAL SCHEDULE RESUME NOOT NOOT


	11. Chapter 13: Caustic

**Chapter Thirteen: Caustic**

The metal double doors of the warehouse fly open, and I immediately open with a quick volley of gunfire from my tears. After the first few seconds, I can see around five dead gang members, all wearing matching uniforms, red jackets and silver masks. They kind of remind me of those crying and laughing masks you'd see in theatres. Either way, I take the back line with Yang, while Eadie and Nora take the front. I checked up on the structure and layout of the warehouse before we came here, did a little scouting, and I confirmed that there were only around five or so rooms; an entrance, a basement, two miscellaneous rooms and a loading room. Only the entrance is rigged with an alarm, so we entered through miscellaneous room number two.

Our loud entrance alerts a few other gang members in the same room, who seem to be moving boxes to another room. Eadie runs towards them and elbows one in the face, before impaling another one through the jugular with his blade. Jesus Christ, no hesitation whatsoever. I shoot the third henchman in the stomach and temple while Eadie punches the remaining henchman in the gut and proceeds to behead him in one swift strike. I assume this is Eadie's first time killing, so I create a few tear barriers around him as he retches on to the floor. I'll leave him there to recover for a bit and head into the basement with Yang and Nora close behind. I can still hear the retches from downstairs, over the sound of Yang's Ember Celica firing numerous shells into various fodder gang members. I decide to sit this one out and go upstairs to comfort Eadie, leaving Yang and Nora to do their things. I have no doubt they'll kick enough arse without me being there, I'm basically just an insurance policy.

I break down the barriers I placed around Eadie, and he comes right out, sweating but otherwise OK.

"You good, man? You didn't sound too hot a while back."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine now. Just a little shock. Hey, I don't think that guy's dead." I look over to see the fella Eadie elbowed starting to attempt to stand. I put an end to his futile attempt by kicking him around the head and stomping on his face until I've broken his nose three times over. I look around and see that Eadie's calmed down, and I chuck him a MonStar, while opening up one for myself.

"Cheers, to a whole lot of violence."

"Yeah, cheers." We clink cans and I down my drink in about fifteen seconds, crunching the can underfoot and charging back into the basement.

Seems Yang and Nora did a fine job, apart from three hench-looking henchmen who I proceed to immobilize with a light peppering of gunfire to the legs. Now for something new. I create two tears above my head, a little over shoulder's length apart. From those tears, giant thorned vines emerge, whipping and thrashing about until I take control of them (luckily, since they came from my dimension, I have control over them. I guess that's how this Semblance works). They're about as thick as a concrete pillar from their emerging point, and each barb on them is about the size of a large kitchen knife, and just as sharp. With a flick of each wrist, the two vines swing towards the henchmen, crushing and impaling them between the two. I can hear the bones in their ribcage crack, then I release them and, with another minute gesture, the right vine swats them into the concrete wall, where they stay.

"Good job, guys. Let's go."

As I say this a loud wail pierces through the air, which I identify as a siren almost immediately. Damn it, either my group tripped it, which wasn't supposed to happen yet, or the stealthy group triggered it, in which case we're properly fucked. Yells from upstairs echo and reverberate around the basement, which I silence with a volley of gunfire from a few portals I stationed around the upstairs.

"Alright, guys, no hostages. Take out everyone you see that's not with us. No exceptions. Alright?" Everyone nods and I take initiative, creating a portal that everyone jumps into. After everyone is in a safe pocket dimension, I create four tears, one on each corner of the basement's roof. One second later, explosions erupt from the tears, causing the entire roof of the basement to give way. Luckily, I escape into a portal just in time, as the floor of the room above us gives way completely.

Panting for breath (the process of creating multiple tears is quite strenuous), I notice I'm in the same tear as Yang, completely unaware of my presence. She's lying down on an old, tattered couch I brought into my chill room (I need to get that replaced with a new couch, maybe one with a softer texture or a more modern aesthetic).I spot a gash in her arm that her Aura hasn't healed yet, which seems to be bleeding quite a bit.

"Yang, your arm...why isn't it healing?"

"Oh, I'm not quite sure. Maybe the knife that cut me was poisoned? Then the Aura would be focusing on that instead of the actual wound. Either way, it's not disappearing for a while."

"Shit, well, hold on..." Pulling a wrap of bandage out of another dimension, I run over to Yang and wrap it around the wound. I'll disinfect it later, but I'm kind of in a hurry right now. "That should slow the bleeding a little, as well as keeping the wound shut. I'll be back later, okay? In the meantime, rest up."

Before I leave the dimension and return to the battle, I take a last look at Yang, lying on that couch, weakened and bleeding, and realise something.

We're all vulnerable. Even the strongest of us, the most indestructible, can never truly be invincible. You can have all the confidence in the world, have the best equipment, be the most skilled and strong and tough and powerful, but it doesn't mean you can just expect to win everytime. I mean, look at the Titanic. The 'indestructible' ship went down anyway, didn't it?

As I realise this, I realise everything I have to lose. Every little thing I could and would lose if I fucked up. My school, my friends, my life even. And I can't afford to lose them, can I? I couldn't live with myself if any of my friends died because I failed them.

Yang. I can't afford to lose Yang. She's...she's something else entirely. She, like the Titanic, is vulnerable underneath all the confidence and power. She could lose at any moment. My heart seizes up imagining the thought. I have to try for her, because I…

I love her.

I really do.

I know deep in my heart now that I've realised all this, that Yang's the one thing I could never truly live without. It goes beyond the casual sex we've shared. Goes beyond the casual conversations, the walks, the battles, the fights, the whispers, the gossip. It goes deeper then the little crush I had on Ruby. I look at her in a different light now, in the same position, but now with that tugging in my heart recognised. I felt that tug the first time I talked with her, and it strengthened with time over the month or so we spent together in the same team, but I never really knew what is was, y'know? Couldn't even describe the feeling properly, let alone identify it. So this is what 'love' feels like. Lust and infatuation I've felt before, but not this. It feels kind of nice now I know what it is. Oh fuck, I'm tearing up now, no no no. Gotta stay strong now the stakes have been raised.

"Um, Com? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. I've got to go, but I'll get you later, alright?"

"Alright, stay safe, Com."

I open up a portal back to the battle and throw myself into it, imbued with a new sense of purpose. This isn't for shits and giggles anymore.

. . . . .

I fall back into the battlefield, seeing that Nora and Eadie have held up well, I opened their portal up immediately after the floor caved in. The bodies of gang members, either knocked out or straight-up killed, litter the floor of the warehouse, and the only room that doesn't look like a battleground is the loading room, which is nearly completely devoid of people, only a few hiding henchmen, it seems. I join in the remainder of the fight, a few punches here, a few shots there, tears created everywhere. After a few minutes and many dead enemies, I take the initiative to send the signal for the other group to reveal themselves, a high-pitched whistle followed by 'Bravo three-zero'. Blake and Ren visualise almost immediately, but the rest collect over a minute or so.

"Who found anything of importance?"

Ren holds up a manila folder. "This. I didn't have time to look at all of it, but it contains some dates, some maps. Might be useful."

Blake holds up a pack of loose papers with a rubber band around them, which I take, along with the manilla folder, and place in another dimension. Other stuff gets thrown in there, including some stuff that I swear isn't important to the investigation (does Ruby really need to add that high-powered nail gun? Hey, it'll be fun for a little bit, I'm sure, just not practical), which I pledge to sort through later.

"Alright, I'll just take a look at the loading bay, give me a second." I walk into the bay, seeing stacks and stacks of crates littered everywhere, along with a few helicopters that looked like they once belonged to the government or army. Some of them seem to be spray painted with the same logo, a red gear with a silver talon in the centre. Walking over to one of the helicopters to inspect the design further and pulling out my Scroll to take a picture, I feel a sharp pain in my back. Next second I'm flying into the concrete wall of the bay, draining my Aura instantly. Laying there, gasping for air, I raise my head to see who sent me flying. It seems to be...actually I can't tell what gender it is, because it's missing all the parts. There is definitely some flesh on show, some human in there, but a majority of their body seems to be cybernetic, one of the legs, one and a half of the arms, the bottom of the face and half the top, the chest and torso. It's more occasional patches of skin amidst a vast amount of metal, but the skin on display seems to be grey and unnatural. Their cybernetics don't look anything like Yang's robotic arm though, their body seems scrappy and unfinished, almost. The most human thing I can see about them is their black hair, long for a boy but short for a girl, and their one natural-looking crimson eye. When I get to my feet, still out of breath, I notice that they're a solid five or so heads taller than me. I may be small, but holy shit, isn't that overdoing it? That's over seven foot right there.

(Image: open?id=0B2CnhGsa5fGHbVR1cUlRaDFOdVU)

The cyborg speaks, although it doesn't move it's mouth fully in sync with the words, maybe a half-second or so late. It's voice sounds robotic, not really male or female, so I assume it's some kind of speech synthesiser.

"Why are you here." The cyborg asks, in a monotone, as I stand up a little straighter, my Aura close to full again.

"We're here because you've been destroying robots, stealing military property, all that kind of shit. We've also heard rumours it's been happening all over Vale, so we came here to put a stop to that, aight? Now come quietly." I say, raising a hand and preparing a few tears in the area.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. I have been working up to this for years. Your destruction of this storage area is an inconvenience at best. It proves that you are a threat however. So you are going to die, my friend." Its arm glows with some kind of red energy, and they push it towards me at a ridiculous speed. Luckily I create a shield tear in front of me just in time, causing the energy to dissipate around me, instead of hitting me.

"Listen up here, you fuckwit. We all don't get what we want, aight? I'm not your ol' buddy, either. Now you've pissed me off." I open fire from a tear, high-caliber shots flying at a rapid speed. They harmlessly ding off of the cyborg's robotic body, not even putting a dent in it. The bullets that do hit the skin don't even seem to affect them at all.

"Your simple metal shots have failed to penetrate even the first layer of my defense. Pathetic, honestly. I expected better from the group that managed to take down an entire facility." I can see them charging up another blast, so I preemptively open up the vine tears and, with a flick of my hand, slap the robot across the room and into a helicopter's side. It seems to dent more than they do. Now I'm getting concerned and very angry.

"The fuck's your deal, anyway? You know, I haven't met too many cyborg gang leaders." I send another vine at them. I see them planting their feet, hands outstretched, and they manage to catch the vine, stopping it dead in its tracks. The energy from their hand courses through the plant, gradually disintegrating it until it's nothing but dust on the concrete floor of the warehouse. I am really fucking pissed off by this point.

"ALRIGHT, CUNT, I'M GOING TO TELL YOU HOW THIS IS GOING TO GO DOWN, YOU LITTLE SHIT." I open up three portals, and out of two fly Lefty and Doma (original, hey), and I fire a fridge out of the last. This manages to distract them, and they put their hands out to catch it, but instead I deliver a devastating right hook, knocking them off balance. The fridge flies into them at full force, crushing their fully robotic arm in the process. I take this opportunity to punch that fucking cyborg as hard as I can multiple times with my Tear Fists, using the punches to punctuate my sentence. "YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. BREAK. AND. SMASH. INTO. TINY. LITTLE. PIECES. YOU. FUCKHEAD!" I'm screaming at them now, my rage has reached it's peak and I'm not calming down anytime soon.

The cyborg's chest emits a red glow, and everything in the room is suddenly repelled away from him. Boxes fly away and shatter on the walls, the helicopter is blasted away and explodes against the wall, breaking it open and causing debris to be launched everywhere, and I'm tossed back fifty metres, skidding on the floor. Yep, pretty sure that's a broken leg right there. My Aura will fix that when it comes back, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt and I don't yell in pain. Everyone else in the building has evacuated by this point, my friends are on the hill outside that we agreed to group up on. The robot slowly but surely gets up, sparks flying from their wounds and the stump that their arm used to be. It looks like some of his more human-looking parts are leaking strange white blood, probably artificial in nature. "Honestly, is that all you can bring to the table? That's depressing to be honest. Anyway," it says as it stands on a nearby pad, seemingly attached to the ground and pulsing with some kind of electricity, "I'll be taking my leave now. There are other matters I have to attend to. I shall kill you later, when my body is perfected. Toodle-oo." And with that, he fades from existence. That's a teleporter, isn't it? A warp pad of some kind? Either way, he escaped. I stand up and create a tear to that hill, limping through it and propping myself up on a nearby tree, opening up another tear for Yang to leave out of. Everyone's looking at me, concern etched into their expressions.

"Com, are you alright? What was that thing?" I don't answer Ruby, standing there in silence, my rage bubbling inside me. I consider lighting a smoke to calm me down, but I know it won't have any effect. Right now, I'm like a shaken up bottle of soft drink, all bubbling up until it explodes outwards. This hits me after two minutes of silent fuming, with my team in heated discussion a couple of metres away. I push off of the tree, hobbling forward so that the warehouse is in clear view. I take a deep breath, hold it for a few seconds, feeling the air cause my lungs to swell.

And scream with rage as a meteorite from my tear destroys the warehouse. The concrete breaks like crumbly Wensleydale cheese, and flies everywhere like a satisfying pinata of hatred and anger. I turn around and punch the tree I was leaning on a few seconds ago, really damn hard. My fist creates a pleasant hole in the tree and shards fly out of the other side of the hole, although it gives me a few irritating splinters and a bloody hand. Why couldn't I have channeled this strength while I was fighting that arsehole? I suppose it's a mood thing, honestly, being able to draw from angrier, more intense places and all that.

This isn't what I'm thinking, however. In the moment I'm not really thinking clearly, especially when I pass out, potentially from over-exertion, potentially from the injuries, potentially from the anger. Either way, I'm down and out.

. . . . .

Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it. You'll learn more about the villain and his intentions later. I will also be writing a little more about Com and Yang's relationship, it's so nice to write about.

By the way, the guy who did the cover art and all other art for my story? You can find him at /user-profile/weiic/

Cheers.


	12. Chapter 14: Recovery

Chapter Fourteen: Recovery

It's strange, coming down from being really angry. It's like a drug, at least for me, I don't really want to calm down. Feeling angry is an incredibly relieving experience that allows me to release every little bit of tension that builds up inside of me throughout my life. But I don't stay angry for long, that feeling tends to evaporate pretty quickly. Back there, that was the angriest I've ever became, the closest I got before this was punching some sod into a pulp in an alleyway after he threatened me with a knife. I can remember it pretty clearly, grabbing his wielding hand and pushing him up against the wall, the feeling of my knuckles colliding with the soft flesh of his stomach and the crunch of his fingers when I smashed his hand with a nearby brick. But it didn't escalate as that just did, because I won that time. The fact that I was defeated, and barely affected him or his plans, made me...fucking annihilate that entire building in one moment. Shit, how did I manage that?

I suppose I draw from dreams, right? That's where I get my dimensions from? I would hypothesise that my mood affects the dreams I draw from, and that's how I did such a powerful thing when normally I could never even dream of pulling that off.

I think all of this in the first few seconds of consciousness I have after I passed out on that night. I splutter and cough, my throat dry and sore, probably from the scream or some sort of drug, but it's not too terrible. I open my eyes a fraction and see that, once again, I'm on the floor of my dorm, with the girls staring at me, all concerned. When they realise I'm awake and aware, they breathe a sigh of relief and give me some space.

"Hey guys, wh-what the hell happened?" My voice, predictably wrecked, is just loud enough to be audible. I'm not going to be smoking for a while.

"You came out of a tear, let Yang out of another dimension, and caused a meteorite to annihilate that storage warehouse for the Talons. You know, just your average weekend." Blake sits down on her bunk and rubs her face with her hands. I notice all the girls look pretty tired, dark circles round their eyes and everything.

"Shit, how long have I been out for?"

"Just one day. We told the teachers you weren't feeling well and had to stay in, so you're all fine on that front. But on the negative side," Blake switches on the TV and surfs until she comes to a news channel, and my eyes widen. A reporter stands on the hill we stood on last night, the meteorite and destroyed warehouse in the background. Seems like I accidentally destroyed a few other warehouses in the process, luckily they'd all been unused for many years. Blake turns up the volume so I can hear what the reporter is saying.

"...a complete coincidence or a show of tremendous power. The police have recovered very little, but the bodies of some members of a growing crime gang known as the Talon have been identified. Based on this, the police are claiming it to be an attack. The attack became the #1 trending story on Tweeter, and users have dubbed the potential perpetrator the 'Comet Crusader'. We'll give updates as they arrive on our official account." Blake mutes the TV and turns back to me.

Well, seems like I'm famous now. I never got the appeal behind being famous, you know, having the media on your arse all the time, so this works.

"At least they don't know who I am. It could be a lot worse. Besides, as long as no civilians were hurt, I'm still one of the good guys, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Who was that person you were fighting back there?"

"Not entirely sure, but they were a cyborg if I recall correctly. Didn't catch their gender, they were kind of missing the parts. I'll refer to them as a 'they' for the time being." I study Blake's face a little closer, then look at the others. "You guys alright? You look tired as hell."

"Well, we were worried about you, Com. We still felt a pulse and you were breathing, but we decided against checking you into any hospital. They'd ask too many questions and this kind of mission is something we have to keep secret. So we kind of let you rest. We didn't get much sleep."

"Yeah, I don't think I slept at all. I'm glad you're awake." Ruby smiles at me and gives me a hug. Soon everyone joins in to the team hug, with me in the centre. Huh.

You know, I never thought I'd really be loved. Sure, I had a good relationship with my dad, but I don't know, didn't feel the same as what I'm feeling right now, you know? Maybe it's a byproduct of growing up without a mum, but I always felt like women would never be able to love me. Nice to see that I'm wrong. Tears form in my eyes and run down my face. I can taste the salt in them as a stray droplet runs onto my lips.

The girls release me and I wipe the tears away on my sleeve, then roll my shoulders. I feel a bit sore and stiff from that fight, but good to know everything's still working-

Yang.

It feels like a gutpunch as I remember the events of last night more clearly. I glance over at Yang, now recovered and getting ready for the day. Yep, that tugging feeling's still there, I still love her. I don't really need that tugging to tell me that, but it's good to have it there nonetheless. Shit, I...what the hell do I do now? I've never been one to know exactly how to go about this. Chalk it up to lack of experience. I'll have to do something about it though, surely. I'm not going to stand aside and let this opportunity pass me by.

"So...what happened after I went unconscious?"

"Well, we all ran away from the warehouse after you destroyed it. Yang carried you until we were at a safe distance, then we called a cab."

"Cheers for that, Yang." I smile at her and Yang replies with a thumbs-up. "Sorry for worrying you all like that, I shouldn't've fainted without warning like that."

"Well, it's not like you could help it." Yang shrugs.

"I probably could've if I didn't freak out."

"Oh yeah, before I forget to tell you, that was SO AWESOME! You just completely annihilated that entire building with a fucking METEORITE! And that scream, holy shit, it was like those screams you hear in heavy metal! You were SUPER badass, you know that?" Ruby's fangirling is punctuated with nods and general assent from Blake and Yang, while Weiss doesn't say or do anything to acknowledge what I did. But she also looks tired so she must've been concerned, right? You know, sometimes I think that Weiss cares, sometimes I think she only cares about herself. Well, whatever. Doesn't matter anyways.

"Hold on, just let me..." I create a small tear by my hand, from which I pull out those files and papers from the warehouse. "Here's all that information we recovered two days ago. I'm not entirely sure what information they contain, we'll have to read through it later." Blake takes them off my hands and places them under one of the bunk beds, I suppose to hide them from others?

"Well, I suppose we should get to class. Umm..." I check the time on my Scroll, and confirm that the time is 9:15, "we're already a little late, so you guys go on ahead, I'll get ready."

"Umm, I'm going to take a sick day so I can work through those files. I'll save you all some work. Besides, I could use some rest." Blake smiles and sits down on her bed, sorting through the manilla folder. The girls are already dressed in uniform, so they head off pretty quickly, and I decide to stay and help Blake out. It's an awful lot of paperwork for one person to sift through. I know a bit about sorting through files from that office temp gig I had for work experience back in Year 10, only here it's a little more relaxed (not like the temp job wasn't chill, I mostly just fetched people coffee and sorted through files at a leisurely pace, Monster in hand). I've successfully managed to hook up my Bluetooth headphones with my Scroll after meddling with the wiring, signals and even a little Dust infusion, so I pull them out and queue up my chill playlist as I flick through the paperwork, separating them into piles by the information they contain. I'll go through them ad nauseum at a later date.

"The girls really care about you, you know that, Com?" I take off my headphones momentarily as a response to Blake's statement.

"Well, I knew you guys cared about me, yeah. Why bring it up now?"

"I'm just glad you're alright." Blake shrugs and gets back to the work. I note that out of all of the members of team RWBY, she was the only one who stayed in pyjamas this morning. "You know," she says, focused on the papers and not me, "when we got back at night from the mission, we were all pretty shaken up. Yang especially, she slept next to you both nights you were out. Said that you helped her out when she was hurt."

"Yeah, it was nothing, just a bit of simple first-aid. Learnt it way back when, back in primary school I'm pretty sure." I'm not really thinking about that part of what Blake said though. Why did Yang do that? Was it a friendly gesture or what? Does that mean she's interested as well?

Look, Com, don't rush into this. Hastiness is not a virtue. Didn't Shakespeare say that is one of his plays? "They stumble that run fast" or something like that? Eh, I never paid attention when we were learning about Shakes. Maybe she was just worried or something like that, there's no telling why. Maybe I'll bring it up with her later? Or do I just keep it to myself?

Is love meant to be this confusing?


	13. Chapter 15: Emotions

Chapter Fifteen: Emotions

It's been just over four months since I fell into this dimension and met the members of team RWBY. It's been good overall, I've been doing well in classes, been doing well in fights, keeping up with the members of my class, all that. Some parts of it have been tough, but I expected that from the moment I enrolled. I expected difficulties, and I certainly found them.

But not in the areas I was expecting.

I was never a social person, I was definitely more introverted than the average bloke. My social skills have improved from living with my team, but I'm finding difficulty with courage.

Due to various reasons, concerns about team chemistry, poor timing, etc., I haven't been able to tell Yang how I feel yet. I'm also scared that I'll pour my heart out and be rejected. I know how that feels, and I'd sacrifice a lot to not ever feel that again. Back when I was just a normal kid living on Earth, I swore never to put myself through that shit again. Needless to say, I was a bit of a mess after the rejection. But this feels different.

This feels more important than anything else I've done up to this point, and I'm going to have to make a move soon. I mean, I've already had sex with her, along with the rest of the team (a clear change from my virgin days back on Earth), but that wasn't the same as what I'm about to do. Casual sex is great and all, but it's not what I want anymore. It's like comparing bread to toast, isn't it? When toast's on offer, I know where I'm spreading my jam, and it's not on a cold bit of loaf.

I was never good with analogies.

A knock on the door of the dorm room jars me out of my reflections. "Come in."

"Hey, bro, how are you?" Eadie opens the door, the hinges creaking slightly (I'd fix it if I could figure out this universe's version of WD40).

"I'm aight, man. Just going through life, as you do. Hey, want a cold one?" I get off my bed and stretch. Lying on your bed for a long time does that to you. I've been on a sloth setting for a little while now, and I'm giving myself one more day before I hit the gym again. Can't get fat in my line of work.

"Yeah, sure, hit me." I open the mini-fridge and chuck him a can of energy drink, before grabbing one for myself and pulling the tab. I close the door of the fridge with my foot and clink my can against his, then proceed to demolish the can in one go.

"Hey, gimme a sec, let me do something really quickly." I pop into the wardrobe for a second and pull out my secret Dust shash, filling the can with fire Dust and resealing it (yeah, they started selling resealable cans at the shops. Neat idea, comes in handy for making these things). "Yeah, why'd you come up, bro?"

"Well, I get the sense something's up. I've known you for long enough to know when something's up. So, inform me, if you could. What's up?" Damn, Eadie's always been good at interpreting people's emotions, but this is some next-level shit.

"Well, you're not wrong." I say, pulling a pack from my back pocket and feeling around in my pockets for my lighter. I spot it on the desk that Eadie's leaning on. He's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, with one half white and the other half black. "Hey, chuck me my light, will ya? Also is that t-shirt s'posed to be symbolising something?" The lighter flies in a graceful arc and, since I'm paying more attention to Eadie's shirt, hits me in the forehead. That gets my attention and I grab it before it falls to the floor. "That was intentional."

"I don't think it's meant to symbolise anything, but you want to hazard a guess? If someone asks about it I want to have a profound answer at hand."

I consider this for a second. I've always been good at finding meaning in total bullshit. Makes modern art museums a hell of a lot more interesting, trying to decipher the deeper meaning behind a massive statue of an arsehole (that was a fun day). "Hmm...oh, I know! It represents your inner divide between your honest, caring side and the dark, brooding, cold side of your personality. Say the reason that the black bit's slightly larger is because your inner demons are winning."

"Sounds good. It also works as free advertisement. Anyway, enough beating around the bush. The fuck's been up with you recently, man?"

Should I tell him? I mean, I know I can trust Eadie to be secretive, but what if he's interested in Yang as well? If so, then I don't know how it would go down. You know what, we've been best friends for a long time, we'd work it out. I take a long drag and step out onto the balcony to blow the smoke out, gesturing for Eadie to join me. We kind of stand there, leaning on the railing in silence for a little bit, before I break the silence with a safe question.

"Do you...like anyone, over here?"

"Yeah, I'd say so."

"Mind telling me who, then? Don't worry, I'm sworn to secrecy. This all has to do with what's up, so be honest."

"You better not tell anyone. Umm...Blake." Eadie scratches the back of his neck and looks away from me, not making eye contact.

"Well, frankly I don't blame you. I thought you might. How much do you like her?"

"I mean, I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool. She just seems so..." Eadie does that airy grunt thing people do when they're exasperated. "I don't know how to explain it."

"No, no, I get you. I asked so I know I don't have any competition."

"Hmm? For who? I'm a little confused."

I sigh. "You remember that time back in our dimension where I said I'd never tell a girl I liked her after that one time?"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember that. You sounded pretty serious about all that. Why?"

"Well, I'm going to have to break that promise to myself because I'm in love now. Man, if I get rejected again it's gonna hurt a lot more than last time, isn't it?"

"Woah woah WOAH. Are we just going to pass by the fact you said you were in LOVE? Mate, with who? Are you sure?" I can tell Eadie's serious because he starts making exaggerated hand gestures, his Australian accent becomes thicker, and he accidentally nearly hits me in the face.

I think for a second before running back inside and briefly sweeping the dorm to make sure we're alone. I check outside in the hallway as well, and nobody's there. I dart back inside and take a deep breath.

"It's Yang, man."

"Wow. Mate, no offence, but you are punching WAY above your weight." He gestures about three feet above me, so I take the opportunity and playfully punch him in the gut.

"Well, I've had sex with her before. Along with every other member of the team." At this, Eadie's eyes look like they're ready to pop out of his head, his mouth agape with awe.

"You're fucking with me."

"I am 100% not fucking with you."

"Really? No offence, Com, but REALLY?"

"Yep, really really." I solemnly nod my head. "I mean, I'm still a little behind you in terms of that, aren't I?"

"Well, if you two fucked, doesn't that mean you're in a relationship?"

"No, at least I don't think so. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was casual, so we're not together."

"I'm still not sure I believe you, but I don't know, maybe you've got a chance with Yang. Give it a go, man."

"I don't know how, man. It's complicated, you know?"

Eadie rests a hand on my shoulder and smiles. "Tell ya what. You're obviously stressed out, and that'll translate to your manner. That'll fuck you up if you try to tell Yang how you feel. So, let's go." He begins to walk towards the door and I call out after him.

"What? Go where?"

"Out. To a club, inner city. Pretty smooth scene, chill place. They'll let us in."

"I don't know, bro."

"C'mon, let loose a little, man. It'll help you out. Drinks are on me, bro's night out. Whaddaya say?" He extends his hand to me, and after a little consideration, I high-five him.

"Alright, but I'll pay for my own shit, aight?"

"Suit yourself, bro. You coming?"

. . . . .

I'm sitting at the bar area of the club with Eadie, and he keeps ordering shot after shot, and we're downing everything that comes our way. After about 10 shots I've had enough, and nurse a beer while Eadie downs everything I've left. He's a heavyweight, so he's not showing too many 'drunk symptoms', as it were. As for me, my tolerance is pretty high, but I'm starting to feel...not drunk, persay, but pleasantly tipsy. I look on all the people in the club as EDM blares from speakers out of view. Students and adults alike sway and gyrate to the melodies, a couple of them are making out in the middle of the floor (kind of rude, taking up valuable dancing real estate). Joining Eadie and I in the bar area are a wide variety of people, from all walks of life. A man with a tattoo of a Leviathan on his arm, seemingly a sailor, talks with a man with a cape and hood, who looks like he had to take time out of his busy schedule of mugging people to make time for two hours of brooding a day. A gaggle of basic-looking club rats pester tenants for extravagant cocktails, and one of the thots breaks off from the pack and comes up to me, pushing her lips out and smiling.

"Hey, care to help me out with my empty glass, sweetie?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Take my money and get out of my face, alright? Not in the mood for your shit." I take out a couple Liens and hand them to her. When she touches them though, I press a little button on my back pocket, which awakens the Lightning Dust I infused them with. She shrieks a little from the small shock and drops the Liens, which I collect.

"Buy your own drinks, freeloader, stop pestering the customers."

A couple of the other bargoers applaud me and I swear Eadie yells "BEGONE, THOTS!", as the group retreats to the dance floor. I clink my beer glass against Eadie's shot glass in celebration.

"Bro, this was a damn good idea. I needed this."

"I knew you'd come around eventually, mate. You gonna dance?"

"Ehh, I'm not that good at dancing." I say, shrugging.

"Bullshit, remember that time at the lodge?"

"That didn't count, it's a different scenario!"

"Well, give it a go. What've you got to lose?"

I breathe in, put my head in my hands for a second, then jump up and head to the dancefloor.

"Yeah, fuck it. You coming?"

"You know it." I hear Eadie's heavy footsteps behind me, even with the intensity and volume of the music, as I merge with all the other dancers. It's like we're one giant, pulsing being of energy, moving to the music like parts of one whole. The rhythms and melodies feel like they're coursing throughout my body as I dance, and I'm sure I look stupid as hell, but I'm not really looking outwards. I'm not trying to show off, just trying to enjoy myself. The pulsing lights and throbbing of the bass make me feel as if I'm floating, in a way. I feel lighter than normal, is what I'm trying to convey.

I take a break from the experience and stop dancing after a quarter of an hour or so, stepping out of the mass to view everything from an outsider's perspective. I'm good at that. I survey the club once again. The sailor-looking guy's left by now, the brooding twat's chatting up some blonde waitress in the shortest skirt I've seen in my entire life, Eadie's in the middle of it all, really getting into it, and team RWBY's walking into the hold the fuck on for one second.

Ohhh god, the mother of all coincidences.

Well, it's not all of team RWBY at least. Ruby and Weiss aren't here, probably because Ruby's underage and this isn't exactly Weiss's sort of scene. But Blake and Yang are here, and they walk up to the bar and order a round of shots. Blake's in her normal attire, but Yang's dressed in an elaborately designed fiery miniskirt and carefully placed yet subtle eyeshadow. She looks absolutely beautiful, so I'm having to focus on keeping my jaw off the floor. They're far enough that they haven't noticed me yet, but close enough so that I can overhear their conversation, with a little bit of straining.

"I don't know, Yang, this isn't my kind of scene, you know? Maybe I should just go home." Blake seems a little agitated, which I don't blame them for, I felt the same way before I got a couple of glasses in me.

"Aww, c'mon Blake, we just got here! Lighten up a little bit, the drinks are on me."

"I just...I wish Weiss would've come. More people around if anything goes wrong."

"We've fought Nevermores, Beowolves, all kinds of Grimm, and you don't think we can handle a little trouble at a nightclub?" Yang downs three shots in the spaces between conversation and gestures for Blake to do so as well. She reluctantly takes a glass and downs it, before her face puckers up like she tasted something foul.

"Look, can I just ask Com to come along? He's been around here before so he can just make a portal here, right?"

"If you want to, sure, but don't get any ideas, alright? Don't you have that thing going with Sun?"

"No, what? We're just friends, nothing more." She pulls out her Scroll to call me and I decide to make my move now, portalling over to their table and performing a mock salute to Blake.

"Private Kellner reporting for duty. What seems to be the problem, ma'am?"

"Oh, Com! H-how did you know I was going to call you?"

"I've been here for a while with Eadie and saw you guys come in. Plot convenience at it's finest. You guys want another round?" I brandish a couple Liens in my hand and raise one eyebrow quizzically, which probably makes me look like a moron, but I'm drunk already so I don't really pick up on it in the moment.

"Sure, I'll go order. What do you guys want?" Yang stands up and takes the Liens from me, her hand lingering when it touches mine. It might be my imagination though, or wishful thinking.

"Umm, let me get a...I'll take whatever you're having. Strawberry Sunrise, no ice, right?"

"You got it. Blake, what'll you have?"

"I'll get a sake if they have it, a beer if not, please." She turns to me for confirmation. "Is that alright?"

"Why would it not be? Take a load off, stop worrying so much, Blakey." I ruffle her hair and she smiles in an embarrassed manner as Yang leaves. Is that improper conduct, or what? I don't know if there's some kind of boundary that I've gotta respect, but she doesn't seem to mind. I spot Eadie in the mass of dancers walking back to the bar area. I call him over and he spots me, waves, then sees Blake. He visibly gets nervous and I mouth 'Play it cool' at him as he approaches.

"Eadie, my man!" I high-five Eadie as he pulls up a chair and sits himself down. "You want a drink?"

"Umm, no thanks, I think I've had enough."

"I agree, good call. What was that, 25 shots or something? Your liver isn't made of iron, regardless of your heavyweightedness."

"I'm not entirely sure that's a word, but whatever. Hey Blake." Blake raises a hand in response and gives a small smile, which seems to make Eadie's day. I send him a text under the table, 'did you know subtle has a silent b?' and he seems to tone it down a bit. After a moment Yang returns with our drinks.

"Hey, Eadie! You're here too?"

"Well, I was here last time I checked. I decided to invite our friend Com out as he hasn't been feeling himself for a while."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. What's been up, Com?" Yang inquires, tilting her head slightly. Eadie didn't reveal too much, time for a little white lie. If we were alone I'd probably tell her right here and right now.

"Oh, nothing, I've just been thinking about stuff, don't worry about it. I'm feeling a lot better now."

Yang doesn't seem fully satisfied with this answer but she leaves it for now and sits down, passing me a Strawberry Sunrise and Blake a glass of Fosters. "Cheers, everyone". We clink glasses and then drink, while Eadie indulges in a MonStar from my dimension.

"Hey Com, Blake, when did you say the next planned attack was again?"

"Umm..." I rack my alcohol-muddied brain for an answer, but luckily Blake knows and responds.

"The Talon are planning on rioting in the city about two months from now. It probably won't be anything too destructive, just your typical run-of-the-mill riot, but if that cyborg...thing...gets involved, it'll turn ugly. And it seems like a lot of planning went into it. So we're going to show up and put an end to the riot."

"Oh, I remember now!" Blake's description has jogged my memory. "Umm, I believe the document said they were trying to make the news. Probably some publicity thing, you know how it is with terrorism." I light a cigarette, then bring it to my lips, but before I can inhale some meathead bumps into my chair, causing me to drop it. He rests his hands on our table and leers at the girls, lust and alcohol both visible in his lewd gaze.

"Hey, girls, mind if I help you out with your glasses?"

Blake looks visibly uncomfortable, so Eadie and I spring into action mode. "Oh, sorry mate, she's taken." Eadie puts his arm around Blake to emphasise this made-up-in-the-spur-of-the-moment point, and Yang interjects.

"I'm with the guy in the hoodie, sorry." She leans in and gives me a little peck on the cheek before sipping her Sunrise. This, while it makes me rather happy, seems to infuriate the meathead, and he straightens up, his fists clenched.

"That wasn't a question, it was a demand."

In response I get up and look Meathead in the face. I barely come up to his nose.

"Fuck off. Didn't you hear that none of them are interested?"

Meathead sneers at me. "What are you going to do about it, little man?" I take a deep breath and slug him in the gut, and he bends over in pain. Eadie gets up and, with one punch, sends him flying into the opposite wall, about twenty-five metres away. The wall breaks and cracks around Meathead and he spits blood. That kind of strength is on par with Yang after damage, and it looks like he was holding back. We look on in awe, and Eadie turns around and notices.

"Oh, it's Semblance stuff. It's complicated, but I figured it out when I was doing grunt work for warehouses before you guys showed up. The more people around me, watching me, the stronger I get. I call it 'Entertainer'. Pretty neat, right?"

People applaud Eadie for this insane feat of strength, and a couple girls come up to him.

"That asshole was harassing us all night, thank you soooo much! When did you get so strong?" they say, as two of them place their hands on Eadie's biceps. Eadie sheepishly shrugs them off.

"Oh, it kind of just...happened. No problem girls, anytime."

One kind chap offers to shout us another round of drinks, which we politely decline. Among us, we agree to make ourselves scarce in case some form of law enforcement shows up and makes a mess of the situation. We retreat to the nearby park, open late, illuminated by soft lights overhead. The sounds of cicadas (or this dimension's version of them at least), our footsteps and the occasional car are the only noises we hear, as it's a blissfully quiet night.

The park's massive, almost like one of those estates-turned-parks that Britain's got so many of (it's one of the very few things to do in England, apart from be sad, stay at home or smoke pot. Only really participated in the first two though). We just walk around for a bit, get lost in the occasional hedge maze, and end up lying on a grassy hill admiring the stars and the broken moon. I become acutely aware of Yang's presence next to me, her hands behind her head, just chilling. I find myself unintentionally copying her posture.

"Oi, guys, when are you thinking of getting back to the dorm? I'm thinking of heading off pretty soon." Eadie says, breaking the silence and surprising me. He's never been one to throw the towel in before everyone else.

"Yeah, it's getting late, I'll probably head off now." Blake stands up and Eadie follows suit.

"Well, I think I'm going to stay a little longer. It's just so beautiful out here. What do you think you're going to do, Com?" Yang asks, and I realise this is my one shot. One opportunity.

"I'll stay out here for a while more. Hold on, I'll create a tear for you guys." Without looking, I create a tear nearby leading to Beacon, which the two step into, then, in the blink of an eye, the tear disappears, returning the world to normalcy again.

Me and Yang lie there in silence for a few minutes longer. This is my moment. But before I can say anything, Yang asks me a question.

"Was the moon broken in your dimension?"

"Nope, it was whole. Umm, do you know why your moon's broken?"

"Well, nobody really knows. It's a mystery. Of course there are religions that try to make sense of it, and crackpot theories about lizard Faunuses, but nothing concrete."

"Hmm. Well, maybe we don't need to know. It'd kind of ruin the magic of it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it would. The world's bigger than us, why should we know everything about it?"

"I agree with you on that. You know, I always wondered, what's it like having a sister?"

"Well, we love each other, and we're always gonna have each other's backs, so for us it's good. But we got the good end of the deal. There are plenty of siblings out there that hate each other's guts. Did you have any siblings at all, Com?"

"Well, I had a brother, an older brother. But when my mom left when I was one, he was forced to go with her. So I don't remember him much."

"Shit, I'm sorry."

"Eh, it's not your fault. I mean, my dad made up for both of them. He was cool. He's the only person I miss from my dimension, along with a friend or two."

We relapse into silence once again. In the silence I feel every single star screaming at me, "Hurry it up!". The entirety of the cosmos seems to be looking at me with disapproval, so I take a deep breath.

One minute of insane courage. Let's go.

"Yang?"

"Yeah."  
"There's something I've been meaning to say to you, but I could never find the right moment to say it. This seems like the right time to tell you. And if not, it might be the closest opportunity I'll get."

Yang props herself up on one arm and looks at me. "Yes, Com? What is it?"

"I..." Come on Com, say it. SAY IT!

"I love you, Yang."

The moment of silence between us then is deafening. The tension in the air is palpable, and my nerves are in overdrive. Oh God, what if she rejects me? That'd make the team chemistry all weird, wouldn't it? Did I just fuck everything up? No no no, this can't be happening. Should I take it back? What am I saying, that'd be even worse. This was a terrible idea-

"I love you too, Com."

I sigh. That's a relief. Wait, she loves me? She actually loves me? I sense some kind of warmth, spreading from my stomach to all parts of my body, coursing through my veins. My brain feels like it's crackling with some kind of energy, like fireworks are going off in there. My inner reflective state is interrupted by Yang.

"I was wondering if you were ever going to say that, Com."

"Well, I never found the right ti-"

Yang presses her lips against mine once again, but this feels different to all the times in the past. Like, the ones back then were still awesome, but it was just for shits and giggles back then, wasn't it? Just casual goofing around, as you do. The passion behind this feels raw, wild, like a bushfire demolishing all in it's path. I feel like I'm being suffocated by it, but in a good way, like I'm drowning in love. I return the gesture, moving on top of her and holding her hips while she wraps her arms around me, and it feels _awesome_. Yang gently bites my bottom lip and presses her body up against mine, and I press back, but I'm not really focused on my mouth, I'm off in the magic world of sucking face. She loves me! She actually loves me! I'm having more than a little trouble getting over that fact.

This is the moment I would expect to feel my heart beating out of my chest, but it's not, it's at a reasonable pace. I feel so secure with Yang that I don't need to feel nervous about anything. Besides, I already did the hard part, so I'm just enjoying the calm sexy fun time after the proverbial storm. Every touch, every noise, every sensation feels magnified to the extreme, such as the feeling of Yang's fingers running through my hair, and the subtle sounds of both of us breathing, and the grass both of us are lying upon.

It feels like an eternity until we separate, even though it's probably only been a few minutes, but I somehow wish it could've lasted longer. My look of relief, happiness and awe is mirrored by Yang, and we both laugh a little bit.

"I've been waiting to get that off my chest for a while now, you know." I say, with a massive grin on my face.

"Yeah, I could tell."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Nope, I'm just very observant. I wanted to say something as well, but I didn't want to rush anything."

"Well, looks like we're both ready. Say, we should probably get back, Blake and Eadie'll probably be wondering where we are."

"*sigh* You're right. Should we tell anyone? I mean, Ruby had concerns about the team's chemistry, didn't she?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll decide on that when the time comes."

I stand up and offer my hand to Yang, which she accepts, and I pull her up. I reopen the portal and we both step inside it, as the night sky blinks out of view.


	14. Chapter 16: Reflections

Chapter Sixteen: Reflections

We're in Weapon Refinement class, and everyone's working on their poly-weapons. Ruby's going to town on Crescent Rose with a drill, apparently to improve its morph time from scythe to sniper rifle, and vice versa. Yang's wielding a blowtorch on full blast on her Ember Celica. I'm not entirely sure what that accomplishes, but it looks like fun.

Weiss is using magnifying glasses and screwdrivers for the finer adjustments to the Dust rotation system on her Myrtenaster. It's probably a good idea to make sure that the barrel is working correctly, considering how she spins it without looking. Blake's off doing something or other. I suppose she has bigger fish to fry, and I know how much she likes fish. Eadie's probably with her, even though he's upgraded his sword so that it's hilt contains a grenade-launcher function. They've been spending a lot of time together, ever since that night. They've been together nearly every single day since then, if I recall correctly. I mean, when Yang and I got back to the dorm room, they were both sleeping on Blake's bunk bed. From the looks of it nothing sexual occurred, but they were in the same bed, and if my eyes weren't deceiving me, Eadie's arms were around her. Hmm, this is the Eadie I knew from London. That Aussie bastard was never single, always with some girlfriend. I mean, I don't blame them, he's swole as fuck, but Jesus, they were thirsty. I remember one time when we stopped at a pizza place to grab a couple slices after going to see a UFC match, and there was this group of girls just eyeing him all the way through our meal, whispering between themselves. When he went to the shitter, a couple of these chicks just rocked up to the table.

"Hey, like, do you know if your friend is, like, available?" By this point, understandably, I was fed up with their shit, so I took great pleasure in shattering their little fantasies.

"Nope, he's already with someone. But even if he was, I'm afraid he has standards. You wouldn't have a chance either way."

The girls feigned hurt, but they wrote their numbers down on a napkin and left. When Eadie returned, he saw the napkin, muttered "Not this shit again." under his breath, crumpled it and put it in the bin.

Anyway, back to the present now.

I'm not participating in the class, because I only own mono-weapons. I'm not really interested in poly-weapons, they just seem like a gimmick that my Semblance renders obsolete. And I can't really refine a big-ass metal bat, so I'm just kicking back with my feet on the desk in front, smoking while watching everyone else toil away. I guess I get the easy but boring job. I probably could leave, but I'm not entirely sure what I would do. Besides, I'm fine with being an observer, it helps me better understand people by how they act. I mean, look at Ruby for an example. There's always a bounce in her step, which is quite reflective of her personality. Cardin's noisy and slow, reflective of his cognitive abilities.

"Excuse me, Mr Kellner?" I snap out of my reflections and notice Mr Port looking at me. Well, I think he is, his eyes are kind of hidden beneath his massive eyebrows.

"Yes, Mr Port?" I take the cigarette out of my mouth and my headphones off my ears, and look him in the eye, showing respect as a student (what a good role model I am).

"Aren't you below the legal smoking age?" Oh, he wasn't made aware when I first got here. I typically don't smoke in classes because I've got work to do, but here I took the opportunity to chill out.

"Oh, yeah I am, but I kind of have to. Earth stuff, you know. If you'd like I can show you my permit."

"No, that won't be necessary. I just wanted to notify you that class is ending in a minute, just in case you couldn't hear me."

"Oh, so it is. Cheers, Mr Port." I heave myself off the chair and stretch my arms as I join the throng of students exiting the classroom. It's lunchtime now, so everyone's going to the cafeteria, but I decide to take an alternate route, breaking off from the path and going round the faculty block, ending up in a part of the surrounding field out of sight of most of the school.

I take this time to lie down, light up again and reflect. Reflecting is important, especially since the riot's happening soon. I want to make sure that I'm at peace when shit hits the fan, because if I get angry again it's not going to be pretty. If I've got my shit in order maybe I won't get as angry.

So, what the hell is that person's deal? Well, they're cybernetically enhanced, for one, so that explains their strength and toughness, not to mention their monstrous height. But how did they get there? Since it's nearly their entire body, I doubt that they had a choice in the matter. But that blue glow, what the hell is that? I'd assume some kind of energy blast, perhaps infused with gravity Dust.

Well, my normal attacks do very little to him, and I doubt any punches would do anything to him. Maybe I need to get worked up so I can really annihilate him. But I can hardly meteor the city. There's a big divide between a few abandoned warehouses and a heavily populated part of Vale. Maybe…

Oooooh, that's a good idea. I'll keep that idea in mind. I'll fill everyone else in later, but first I'll have to organise something. Well, I'll figure something out.

"Hey, Com?"

"Hmm?" I look up to see Blake and Eadie walking over. "Hey Blake, Eadie. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were walking to the cafeteria and we saw you lying in the grass. Is anything up?"

"Nope. I just like to come out here from time to time. Thinking, reflecting, all that. Oh, guys, before I forget, do you know anyone on campus who can create viruses?"

Eadie shakes his head, but Blake considers it before responding. "Well, there are a couple who spring to mind, but getting them involved won't be good."

"Well, I'll pay someone over the internet in that case."

Blake shakes her head. "Everything that you search is monitored, and viruses are such a major concern in Vale you automatically get placed on a watchlist. That placement could get you suspended or even expelled."

"Fuck." I spring off the grass and stretch a little. "Well, I'm no genius, but I did a little coding back in the day. All I need to do is scramble a couple of hardware functions. I'm trying to think of potential ways of taking down that cyborg fucker if he shows up."

Eadie interjects. "Well, there are a couple other options. Perhaps some kind of EMP could knock out their functionality?"

"I already considered that, but there are a couple of issues with that plan." I pull out my Scroll and pull up a few specification sheets for the Atlas-produced security robots. "Based on the theft and destruction of security robots, I assume that the cyborg's taking parts from the robots to add to their mechanical body. So since the security bots are EMP-resistant, I doubt they'd be effective."

"Either way, we've got a little time to work it out. Or we could just go in guns blazing and hope for the best." Eadie says, stroking his chin. "You heading to the cafeteria?"

"Well, I need food to function and I'm broke at the moment, so I don't have any other choice." We begin the walk to the cafeteria, as the leaves in the nearby trees rustle and the grass sways underfoot with the light breeze. "By the way, where were you guys during Weapons Refinement Class?"

"Oh, nowhere..." Blake looks visibly uncomfortable, doesn't meet my eyes, goes a little red.

"Bullshit. You're not very good at hiding things, Blake. I can read you like an open book, and I'm not even good at reading emotions." I light a cigarette and offer it to the two of them, and both of them decline.

"Listen, Blake, Eadie. Whatever the fuck you're doing, I couldn't give less of a shit. But I want to make something clear. Don't just fuck off like you've been doing recently." They start to protest but I cut them off. "You realise that we've all got shit to do? Blake, a lot of that shit involves you, and I'm sure JNPR could use your help, Eadie. You're a part of their team now, you've kind of gotta be there more than half the time."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Eadie says begrudgingly. Blake seems to agree with him as well and they both mutter apologies.

"Well, I don't blame you guys. I mean, are you official or what?"

"What do you mean by 'official'?" Blake asks, while Eadie mouths 'yes' behind her. I decide to tactfully dodge an answer.

"Never mind. I'm sure whatever you're doing is fine, and I don't have any authority over either of you. Just keep everyone else in mind, you know?"

By the time I've said the second sentence the two are already off. I guess I really don't have any kind of control over them. You know, I understand how they feel, just wanting to be together 24/7. I mean, that relationship developed fast. I doubt they 'love' each other, it takes a little while to recognise that. Does it though? I heard one time that 70% of people fall in love on the first date. Either way, I've got my own shit to deal with, I'll leave them to theirs.

Heavy footprints behind me snap me out of my reflections. Damn, I really need to keep my head in the real world. I turn around and there's Cardin with his group, brandishing their weapons. I sigh heavily and flick my no-longer-lit cigarette at their feet.

"Well? What is it? Come to execute some master plan to fuck me over? Or maybe you just came to beat me up since I doubt any of you could formulate a coherent plan given six months and a severe intelligence multiplier."

Some of his group look a little lost, but Cardin raises his mace and points it at me. "Shut it, smart-ass."

"Oh, did little Commy-wommy hurt big-boy Cardin's little feelings? I'm very sowwy, please don't tell on me." I say in an exaggerated baby voice. Then, switching to my pissed-off tone, "I don't have time for this shit. Fuck off, aight?" I attempt to walk in the direction of the cafeteria, but Cardin picks me up by the neck and throws me back ten metres. Luckily I create a tear in my landing area before I hit the ground, and I fly into my chill-out dimension and land on my busted-up couch. It does nothing but hurt my back a little, and I simply reemerge relatively unharmed.

"Come ON, Cardin. Aren't you supposed to be the bully character? For a bully you're terrible at your job." I simply create a tear behind me and out emerge my Tear Hands, relatively unused for a while. Lefty smacks Cardin up into the air, then slaps him downwards. He hits the ground with a heavy thud, chunks of grass and dirt flying around him like poorly-made bombfetti. I bring Doma (the right hand, slightly more original than Lefty) down on him, draining him of most of his Aura quite quickly. I simply walk up to his coughing and spluttering form and administer a quick punch to the nose and he's in the red. By this point I'm a little pissed off, so I stand up straight and face Cardin's teammates, a scowl on my face.

"OI, ARSEHOLES! ANYONE ELSE WANT TO GO?" I say, arms raised. "Come on, are you all that pussy-whipped? Pathetic." I simply push the stunned twats out of my way and head towards the cafeteria. Damn, when did I turn so badass?

I feel the blade of a halberd against my back, swung upwards. It's a solid hit and it knocks me back a little, but my hoodie takes a lot of the punishment. Still, I feel a third or so of my Aura drain out of my body. As I'm lying face down I try to get up but the other three members of Cardin's team run over and start kicking me in the gut. One boot catches me in the face, and when I hold my hand up to my nose it comes back red and slick. Another boot finds its way into my groin and I hold back vomit and tears. All my Aura's gone now, so I'm basically useless, and just have to soak up all these punches.

No.

No, that's not happening. I'm no pussy-whipped punching bag.

Feeling my body strengthen along with my resolve (probably a placebo or some kind of adrenaline), I slowly start to get up. The kicks keep coming but I just tough it out, steady on my feet. The blue one tries to place his hand on my shoulder to push me down, but I grab his wrist and yank him towards me. As he gets closer I grab his neck with my free hand and begin to choke him, my other hand drifting from his wrist to his neck as well. I sweep his legs out from underneath him and I fall on top of him, and I proceed to repeatedly smash his head down on a small rock cluster near us. The rock seems to get bloodier and bloodier and while he's breathing he doesn't appear to be conscious, so I think I did a good job in that regard. I release him and the other team members have evidently backed up, scared perhaps?

"HEY, SPINELESS LITTLE SHITS! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD WHALE ON ME WHILE MY BACK WAS TURNED? HUH? HUH!?" I create a tear behind the blue one and both Lefty and Doma appear, Lefty grabbing his legs and Doma grabbing his arms. They both pull outwards, stretching his legs and arms. You know, while I probably should be processing his screams, I'm noticing that his armour is barely even bronze, it's just like a muddied yellow. For a lad called Bronzewing, he needs to sort his colour scheme out. I decide to tune back in when I hear a couple of pops and one arm and one leg hang at funny angles. I let my Tear Hands drop him on the ground as he writhes in agony. That looks like some solid limb dislocation right there. A little run up and a kick to the gut is all it takes for him to start sobbing uncontrollably. What a massive pussy. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU LITTLE CUNT!"

I turn around to try to find the green twat, to little success. He seems to be gone, probably fled in fear. Either way, I can't get into too much trouble, since Cardin's team acted first. Even if they lied and said that I attacked them, most teachers know that Cardin and his team are giant dickheads. Meanwhile I am held in fairly high regard by most of my teachers, because I actually pay attention and put effort into learning.

I decide to turn back to the sobbing bronze guy, and that's where I mess up. The green guy appears as I turn around, and lunges for me with his dual daggers. Taken by surprise, I don't have any weapons out, so I simply dodge to the side. I manage to avoid one aimed at my head, but the other one slashes across my stomach. That was a solid hit, and it drains me of most of my Aura. Maybe...is that blood on my shirt? Shit, maybe I was lower than I thought. Either way, he didn't seem to pierce too deeply, I'm not in pain, and my insides are staying inside, so that's a good sign.

I draw Homerun out of my dimension and manage to parry a quick swing aimed at the gut, but I realise that it's more a distraction a little too late. The other one of the green twat's knives moves forwards as if in slow motion, and I know it's happening at normal pace but that's not how my brain processes it. The knife travels towards my face ever so slowly as I fall back in an attempt to dodge. I'm so low on Aura I can't create even the smallest of tears even if I wanted to. The blade keeps on travelling and it looks like it's going to plunge into my cheek but since I'm falling, the sharp tip hits my eye instead.

A lurch of pain and sickness wash over me as my viewing speed reverts to normal, as I fall onto the ground and clutch at the knife driven into my eye in a vain attempt to remove it. The green twat, realising the error of his ways, books it for the dorms. At least, I think he does, my vision's not too good at the moment. Luckily the blade only pierced my eye and didn't go far enough as to injure my brain, I guess it's relative girth couldn't fit through my socket. With one solid yank I manage to rip the blade out of my eye. The pain is immense and I cry out pretty loudly, my knuckles white from clenching my fists around the handle. I feel a swelling in my stomach and I hurl over the grass. Luckily I avoided getting any on myself, I hate vomit. But even if I did I've got bigger things to worry about.

I've got to get help, there's a hospital somewhere on campus, isn't there? I mean, this is a fighting school, there are bound to be some injuries regardless of how tough the kids are. I'll just have to get up and find the damn place.

Sticking the knife in the ground for support, I push myself up slowly, going from my knees to my feet, one hand moving from the knife to my eye. Yep, it's bleeding alright. Don't really know if that's the eye or just the surrounding area that also got sliced, but whatever, once I haul ass out of this damn field I can figure this out.

Before I get moving, I take a look at the knife that stabbed my eye, and decide to pick it up. Normally I would've just thrown it in a dimension, but I'm not in any place to trust my depth perception or my aim, plus I'm out of Aura to summon a tear in the first place.

I'm hurting all over, that wasn't a pleasant encounter for every part of me, so I end up limping pretty slowly towards the cafeteria. It takes me a little bit of time, only a minute or two since I stuck pretty close to the classrooms. Once I reach the pavement area and eventually the cafeteria, I realise what a psycho I must look like; blood-soaked, with a knife in hand and an eye out. But fuck it, I don't have time to worry about appearance.

Since both of my hands are in use, one over my eye and the other holding the knife, I open the cafeteria door with my shoulder, kind of barging into it. If it was a pull-to-open door that would've been a little bit of a pain, but whatever.

As I stumble into the cafeteria, it seems like in the space of ten seconds everyone goes silent, all eyes trained on me. I don't blame them, I'm in a right state, but I don't have time to waste.

"Hey, umm, I was wondering where the hospital area of the school is, if they have one. Could somebody please give me directions?" My voice is murder, all croaky and hoarse, but at least my words are audible. One polite girl in school uniform with long green hair pipes up.

"Ummm, we don't really have an area like that, so you should probably call an ambulance..."

"Thanks. What's their number?"

"Oh, it should be a number saved in your Scroll, mister."

"Alright then, I'll go do that. Hey, if any of you see team RWBY, tell them I'm off campus-"

"COM! Oh my God, what happened? Are you okay?" My good eye locks onto a blur of color rushing towards me, then focuses to reveal Yang and Ruby booking it for me.

"Oh, hey guys. Cardin's group picked a fight with me, and the green cunt stabbed me in the eye. Got his knife though." I say, lifting up the bloodied blade for emphasis. "Hey, where are the others?"

"Blake's off with Eadie, Weiss went back to the dorm, I think. Com, we've got to get you to the hospital, that doesn't look good."

"Oh, you think?" I say sarcastically. "'Tis but a flesh wound, come on Patsy, we must find knights willing to serve in my court of Camelot." I drop the goofing for a second. "You're probably right, I'll go call an ambulance-"

"Can't you just portal there?" Ruby asks. It's a reasonable question, but it's got a simple answer.

"I haven't been there yet, so I can't create a tear there. Besides, this damn eye's stopping my Aura from regenerating. I don't think this is an injury that Aura can fix." The implications of this are just starting to sink in, and if the injury was anywhere but my eye I'd allow myself to cry, but I can guess that would probably hurt a little considering both tear ducts and my injury are around the eye area. Either way, I stumble out the hall and attempt to pull out my Scroll when Yang stops me.

"Com, the ambulances here have terrible response times. They won't reach you fast enough."

"It's hardly a fatal wound, I think we can wai-"

Before I can finish my sentence Yang places one arm on my back and one behind my knees and, in one swift motion, picks me up and begins running. I'm not sure where, I doubt it's all the way to the hospital, but hey, I don't need to walk to wherever we're going at least. My body's not up for it either way.

I guess this shows that Yang really cares. When I told her how I felt and she told me how she felt, I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind, "Does she really? Or is she just saying it as to not hurt my feelings?" I guess this means she does love me. It's a nice conformation, but it's probably not worth getting stabbed in the eye for. Or is it? I don't know, and thinking about it won't help.

"Alright Com, we're here." Yang lets me down after a while. I focus in on where we are. Seems to be some kind of garage. It's cold down here, all concrete, with very few cars actually occupying the space. I assume most people can't really afford cars, they're students with very little disposable income. Besides, whatever money I have earned has gone towards acquiring new weapons or repairing my constantly ripping clothes. Oh yeah, I'm probably going to have to but a whole new set of clothes, and a replacement hoodie. It's been ripped all over, with a massive gash down the front, various other holes from the knife attacks. The fabric is filthy, and coated with my blood. Hopefully I didn't mess up Yang's outfit. Oh well, If I do I'll pay for it. It it's my fault I'll take the financial burden on my own shoulders.

My eye swivels around to focus on whatever Yang took me to, then realise she's pointing at Bumblebee, her sports motorbike. The same yellow as Yang's hair, it's the kind of motorbike that Gabe back on Earth would see in his wet dreams. I don't doubt that it's faster than a conventional ambulance, but I have my concerns about how this is going to work. My eye, or the area around it, I'm still not sure, is still bleeding, and I doubt all that wind rushing into it will do it any good. Yang mounts the bike and gestures for me to hop on the back.

"Come on, Com, we should hurry."

"Just a second." I take off my now useless hoodie and tear off a strip or two of its thick fabric, then tie them around my head so that they cover my eye, like a crude eyepatch. Either way it should quell the bleeding and my hands are freed up now. Looking at the knife in my hand, I'm torn between whether to keep it or to ditch it. One one hand, I've got plenty of others and it would be easier to ditch it here, but it's got a Dust barrel and since he stabbed me with the fucking thing I think the higher-ups wouldn't mind if I commandeered it as retaliation or compensation.

I rest the blade up against the wall behind one of those little rises in the parking spaces, the ones that stop drivers from parking too far into the space, and mount the bike. I'll come back for it once I get back.

. . . . .

We arrive after a short journey, around five to ten minutes, and I hop off the back of the bike. Yang goes to pick me up but I wave her off.

"It's all good Yang, I think I can walk from here. If you want, you could head back to campus, I'll sort myself out from here."

Yang clearly isn't having any of it, dismounts from her bike and stands it up, then joins me as I walk (or in my case hobble and limp) into the hospital. "No way in hell, I'm staying here with you." I get myself signed in and I suppose it's deemed an emergency, because they only estimate a five-minute wait or so. Either that or the doctors here work really quickly. Either way I'm not complaining.

Now that the adrenalin from the fight and bike ride has worn off, the pain in my right eye has multiplied. It really hurts, every blink sends a shot of pain through my head, but I can tough it out. Me and Yang sit in relative silence, until she busts the million-dollar question.

"You haven't really explained properly what happened. Why did they attack you?"

I sigh deeply and readjust my makeshift patch. "I have no idea. If I did anything to piss them off I can't recall it. We never saw _eye_ to _eye_ on much, after all." This raises a smile and a giggle from Yang.

"Com, that pun could not be any _cornea._ _Eye_ can't believe you."

"The _pupil_ has become the teacher, Yang."

" _Eye_ 'll always be better than you, Com. _Iris_ my case."

We devolve into giggling messes, and it feels good to laugh even if it hurts a little. We continue making terrible puns to each other, back and forth in a savage pun battle, until the doctor calls me in. I get up and start heading in, and Yang gets up to follow me, but the doctor stops her.

"Sorry madam, we'll need to operate in private. You can visit from the first thing in the morning, he'll be ready by then." I can see that Yang's reluctant to leave, her expression makes that clear, so I rest my hand on her shoulder and give her a smile.

"Yang, it's fine, I can handle myself from here. I'll call you when I can. Go back to school, have a girl's night out or something."

"Umm, okay." Yang still doesn't look very happy about it, but she seems like she's on board. "I'll get going. Do you want me to collect that knife you left?"

"Sure, if you could that'd be great. I'll see you later, Yang."

"Bye, Com. I love you." She departs after a quick kiss, and I head with the doctor into the labyrinth of hallways in the hospital. I hate this kind of sterility, these distinctly hospital-like vibes coming from the decorations and colour schemes. The walls are painted a strange light blue-grey colour, like a drabber shade of the typical nurse and doctor uniforms back on Earth. It reeks of uniformity and sterility. Where's all the colour? Then again, I won't have to worry about that for too long, so I should really stop complaining.

I'm asked to lie down on a bed that seems like it's attached to wheels, and the doctor prepares a syringe filled with yellow fluid. "Alright sir, we're just going to inject you with this tranquiliser, and when you wake up we should have a solution sorted. Before we do this I'd like to let you know that you have two main options for replacements. We can either provide a glass eye which we will have painted at a later date, or we can give you a cybernetic eye. It's not the same as an actual eye, and it looks less real, however it allows the user to see shadows and outlines. Which one do you prefer the sound of?"

I consider this for a second. The cybernetic eye would be useful, but I can't imagine it'd be cheap at all. Also I don't want to be walking around with an eye that people can tell is fake. I don't think so.

"I'll stick with a glass eye for now. I can have the cybernetic eye implanted later on, right?"

"Yes, that should be possible. Alright, please breathe deeply, I'll just inject this serum into your arm. You'll fall asleep promptly."

"About fucking time." I do as the doc says, taking deep breaths, as I feel the needle pierce my skin. I was always good with needles, I recall there were a bunch of people in my school that absolutely hated them. Eadie doesn't particularly like them, but he's not batshit about it. The syringe is pressed down upon and the amber liquid courses through my bloodstream, making me feel drowsy. This reminds me of that one time when I was out and someone-

. . . . .

Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first extra-thicc chapter. When writing it was around 15 pages instead of the usual 8 or so. I tend to stick to larger chapters further into the writing process, so they take me more time to write. I still have a couple of chapters stockpiled but to ensure I don't run out of stuff to post I'm going to need to change the upload schedule. Instead of one every two days it'll be one every three or four. That's it, thanks for reading.


	15. Chapter 17: Eye-To-Eye

I walk out of the operating theatre the next day, feeling very self-conscious. The doctor fixed everything up, removed my eye and stitched up the wound around it. My Aura sealed it shut while I was asleep, having regenerated, so the stitching was removed just before I woke up. The scar is very much visible, however, a diagonal slash running across the right side of my face. It's not the scar that I'm feeling self-conscious about though, plenty of people have that. But since the hospital still need to get a proper glass eye painted they gave me a pure white one in the meantime. No pupil, no iris, just the white of the eye painted over the entire thing. It's better than no glass eye at all, but it's pretty obvious something's not right. Either way, I'll just keep my head down and everything should be fine.

I'm still wearing my tattered and torn clothes from the fight yesterday, so I'll pop into a clothing store near here to get some replacements. It's a real shame that the hoodie ended up ruined. I really liked that hoodie, it was stylish as hell. Then again, I've never had the best fashion sense, but I thought it looked really fucking cool. Well whatever, it's done now. Time to move on. Move on from the hoodie, move on from the eye.

To be honest, I miss my eye. The glass eye feels relatively natural but I can definitely feel the effects. I bump into the door as I leave the hospital, my depth perception's buggered as Eadie would say. It feels strange, like I'm watching a movie from my perspective. Everything just feels a little flat. Only having half my field of vision is also a little disconcerting, but I'll work through it. I'm sure the school will be nothing but supportive.

As I walk the streets avoiding eye contact, I remember what I said to Yang before she left, and I pull my Scroll out of my pocket. She picks up after about two rings.

"Hey Yang. How's everything over there?"

"Hey Com. Well, Russell got expelled for stabbing you in the eye, and everyone else in his team's been suspended for a while, about half a month. The girls are all pretty concerned, as is Eadie. How's your eye?"

"Still not there. But I'm wearing a blank glass eye while my proper one is being painted. So I look a little dodgy. Doesn't hurt much now, but everyone might be a little caught off guard."

"Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"No, I'll portal back there. I've got to pick up a new hoodie while I'm in town. I'll go to one of those outlets you don't see around the school, get lunch, make a day of it. I'll be back in the afternoon though."

"Mind if I come with you?"

"Huh? Don't you have school on? Not that I mind."

"Well since one of our teammates was seriously injured, we get a day off to recover. I'm pretty sure you get a week if you want it."

"Cool, I'll open up a portal riiiight..." I focus and create a portal a little off the sidewalk. It appears a few feet to the right and a little further away than expected, but whatever, I'll deal with it. "there." Yang appears out of the portal and immediately gives me a massive hug, crushing me a little in the process. I don't really mind though, because at least it's coming from somewhere. She releases me after a while and looks at my face. It's relieving that she doesn't seem shocked or repulsed, or even uncomfortable.

"It's a lot better than I imagined. I've gotta say, that scar looks good on you, Com."

I blush a little. It's been awhile since I've received a compliment as genuine-sounding as that, and it's most certainly appreciated. "Thanks, Yang. Sorry I didn't call sooner, I had to get my head straight. Umm, do you know anywhere I could get a new hoodie? This one, as you can tell," I say, pulling off the hoodie and throwing it in the nearest trash can (or rubbish bin if I'm going to go full Brit), "is properly wrecked."

Yang thinks for a second as we walk took the shopping district. "Well, I know a shop. Pretty exclusive, no sign or anything. I only found out about it through my underground connections, and that's where I got this outfit made. The owner works quick, he should have a hoodie made in no time."

"Alright, sounds good. I assume this isn't cheap, but I've got the cash and I'm feeling in a jovial mood. I guess you're right, it could be much worse." As we make our way down a high street of sorts, I'm glad to see Yang's not staring at my eye, or even making sideways glances at it. I guess she really doesn't care whether I have a real eye, a glass eye or a cybernetic one. It provides me more than a little comfort to know she's not creeped out by it.

We stop at a bubble tea store and pick up some of the good shit. I get a vanilla pearl tea with extra tapioca balls at the bottom, while Yang gets a strawberry and lemon fruit tea with jelly cubes (good decision). We stay there for a bit, sipping the tea and relaxing in the relatively indie-looking store. This is the kind of store that I'd expect a record to be playing and the owner to be wearing a beanie and an ironic t-shirt if it was back in Britain.

"You know, Yang, I've been wondering. How do you think the other girls will react to the eye?"

"Well, Ruby'll probably be a bit spooked at first, but she'll get over it quickly. I expect Weiss won't really...react that much, I guess. And I'm not sure how Blake'll respond. Either way, I'm sure we'll all get used to it in time."

"Yeah, I hope so. My depth perception is seriously out of wack. You remember how I dropped the Liens when handing them to the owner? That was because I couldn't tell how far away his hand was."  
"Jeez, man, that's tough."

"Well it could definitely be worse, couldn't it? What if I lost both eyes, or an arm, or a leg, or my dick, or any combination of those? Frankly I think I got off pretty well."

"Well, keep a positive outlook I guess. Sunny days ahead?"

"Sunny days ahead." I lift up my cup and touch it to Yangs as a toast to the aforementioned 'sunny days ahead', and we get going once again.

As we walk, a kid with green hair holding his mom's hand points at me. "Mommy, what's wrong with that man? Is he evil? Why's his eye like that?" The mother, obviously embarrassed, comes up to me looking flustered.

"I'm really sorry sir, you know how kids are." She turns to her kid. "Honey, apologise to the nice man." The kid, seemingly unsure of what he did wrong, apologises anyway. I give the two of them a little smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I know how kids are. Have a good day." I say, setting off again. I think I handled that pretty well, but inside I'm a little upset. Already my eye's attracted attention. Either way, I'll get it painted later on. I can't do anything about it now. Yang catches up and I rub my forehead in frustration. "Well, shit. I guess it's more noticeable than I thought."

"Hey, Com, don't worry about it. What do you always say about kids?"

I sigh and quote myself to Yang. "'Kids are dumb as dirt, stupid as shit. I'm glad I was never one.'"

"That's the spirit. We're almost there, just keep one thing in mind. Don't point out Borrao's leg. It's a sensitive subject."

"Alright. I assume Borrao's the shop owner?"

"I guess you could say that." Yang says with a small smirk. Whatever she's implying, I neither understand nor have time to ask, as we enter an alleyway. It's grimy and grey in here, with soggy cardboard lying on the floor, and some kind of weird yellow...sauce? I think it's some kind of sauce. Either way, whatever it is is splattered against the alley's walls, and I nearly step in a puddle of it as we step towards a dark red door. Yang hammers on the door with her right hand, in no particular rhythm or sequence. "BORRAO, OPEN THE DAMN DOOR! CUSTOMERS, DUDE, CUSTOMERS!"

After a while the door begins to open and Yang ceases her knocking. In the doorway stands a short woman, only five foot or so, with grey-blue hair done in a messy bun. She looks fairly young, maybe in her early twenties, and she's pretty cute. Not that I'm going to try and get with her, I only have eyes for Yang, but I'm allowed to make these observations. Her face is rather angular, with high cheekbones and a sharp jawline.

"Yang. Please don't knock so loud."

"Sorry, sorry, but you never seem to respond when I knock normally."

"That's because I'm working. I don't have the charmed life you live, Yang, and frankly I'm fine with that." Borrao sees me over Yang's shoulder. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is my teammate and boyfriend Com Kellner. He joined team RWBY a few months ago."

Borrao lifts the side of her mouth in one of those half-smiles. She doesn't really strike me as the emotive type. "Charmed." I extend my hand to her, which she takes and shakes without hesitation. She's got a pretty solid grip, and her handshake form is perfect, I must say.

"The pleasure's all mine, Borrao."

"Well, I assume you two aren't simply stopping in to exchange idle pleasantries, so you're probably here to have some clothes tailored. Am I correct?"

"That you are. As you can tell, my outfit's kind of...fucked, for a lack of a better word. It's a long story, but I was wondering if you could make a new outfit?"

"Well, that's kind of my job. Come in."

The store is dimly lit, mostly lit with weird purple neon lights, and it's pretty cluttered in here. Shelves full of random materials seem to be shoved up against the walls with little thought or aesthetic reasoning. However, somehow this store manages to be ten times more hip than the deliberately trendy stores, in which the designers spend hours seeing what kind of angle the framed photo behind the register should be at. Having that smooth lo-fi hiphop in the background is definitely a winning contribution, and I feel like this is the kind of store I'd be happy to wait in.

"Stand in the centre of the room and take off your clothes, Com."

"Woah, woah, take me out to dinner first." Yang laughs but the joke doesn't seem to register with Borrao. I don't blame her, it's pretty sophisticated humour, almost as sophisticated as the sarcasm I used just there. She probably wouldn't get that either. Either way, I oblige and stand in the middle of the room as Borrao takes my measurements. I swear to God, she takes every single measurement possible; my height, my wingspan, my chest width, my neck thickness, my leg length, my hip width, and so on. This must be why Yang's clothes are so well-fitted.

"What kind of design are you looking for?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. You probably could do a little better than me."

"Any Dust infusion at all?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind some kind of Gravity Dust infusion, if that's possible."

"That can be arranged. Any colour scheme in mind?"

"Hmm...purple? That seems unique enough."

"Alright then. I'll be back in ten or so minutes. In the meantime, please take a seat."

I walk towards the couch pushed to the wall where Yang's sitting. She notices me approaching and pays the seat next to her, indicating that I should sit. I oblige her, and after a while notice I'm still only in my underwear. Luckily Yang doesn't seem to care, and I can't be bothered to change back if I'm only going to wait ten minutes or so.

"So how long have you known Borrao for?"

"A year or so, I think. I remember meeting her through a couple of connections I had in the nightlife industry. Getting her to tailor my outfit was one of the best decisions I made in my Huntress career."

"Well she's clearly good at what she does, considering how your outfit never seems to tear. Why is that, by the way?"

"Don't ask me. I guess I never really thought about that. I'm pretty sure your Aura extends to what you wear, otherwise how else do all the Hunters' clothes stay in one piece?"

"Might just be because of plot convenience."

"I suppose. Hey, if you're self-conscious about your eye, you could just wear dark sunglasses, couldn't you?"

"Well I could, but 1. I look like a fucking idiot wearing sunglasses, 2. I don't want to be one of those douchebags who wear sunglasses indoors and 3. I'm going to have to get used to it eventually, so why not get started as soon as possible?"

"That's a good way of looking at it. You think you're up for tomorrow? I mean, you haven't fought without your eye before, so it might be a bad idea."

"I suppose, but I want to be there in case something goes wrong. I'm sure I can help out somehow, even without fighting, like creating tears to retreat into if needs be."

"Just...don't get hurt, alright? We don't need that, and sure as hell you don't."

Borrao reemerges from a back room with an outfit rolled up. I can tell it's a purple-and-black colour scheme, but I can't tell the styling quite yet. She hands it to me and directs me to a dressing room. I don't see why I'd need to go in there since I'm already only in my underwear, but whatever, I head in there anyway.

Unfurling the mass of fabric, I get a better look at the clothing. It seems like it's...I'm still not entirely sure, but it looks like some pretty advanced materials we're working with here. It seems like it's in three pieces; the trousers, the shirt and an overcoat, all mostly black with deep purple highlights. I throw on the shirt and admire the fine work in the mirror. It's thick yet airy, so the wearer won't overheat, while still providing protection for the entirety of the upper body and arms. It seems to be armoured on both the inside with a thin layer of protective...fabric (not entirely sure of the type, but it feels cut-resistant) and the outside with light armour plating. It feels like it could take a solid hit but wearing it doesn't hinder my maneuverability at all. The plating is placed in a way that allows me to fully bend all my joints and bend down without it getting in the way. It's also pretty damn subtle, it doesn't look like a suit of armour fucked a long-sleeved shirt and this thing popped out.

The pants are mostly the same, thick and protective, similar to my old trousers in many aspects, only these are more comfortable. The purple on these seem to be more subtle, but I notice a slight purple sheen on them. Looking at the other garments, I notice a similar effect, like very weak purple smoke on the surface. It wouldn't be noticeable unless you were especially looking for it, but I assume that's a result of the Dust infusion.

The replacement to my hoodie is a long black coat, with subtle purple touches in discrete areas, such as behind the collar. It seems like a hybrid between a trench coat and a duster, with the length of the coat reaching just below my knees. It'll look awesome with it billowing behind me, as well as being protective. It's got that protective layer built in as well, so that'll be handy if I get into a scrape. I could probably add a fedora if I wanted to but I don't know, I'm no neckbeard. I could never actually pull it off either, like Indiana Jones in that movie with the boulder. Or was it the skull, or that golden temple? I only watched the first one then I got distracted by Nichijou.

Before I leave, Borrao knocks on the door to the dressing room. "I've slipped a pair of shoes underneath the door, so put them on, alright?" I look down and spy a pair of black combat boots. They seem to be made of some leather-type substance, but last time I checked cows don't exist over here, so I'm not entirely sure. They're pretty high too, but don't impede movement. These also seem to be infused with gravity Dust, so I should be able to jump a little higher now, add onto my mobility. The way everyone else flies around the arena makes me feel bad about my own speed, even though I'm pretty fast on my feet. I was one of the speediest kids back in London, if I recall correctly. When Eadie and I would race, which was rarely, I'd always annihilate him. Then again, when it came to arm-wrestling there was no competition. Side note, any of you guys reading this seen professional arm wrestling? It's fucking hilarious, especially that one clip of the woman getting way too into it back in 2014. It looked like she was laying an egg, the expression on her face was priceless. Either way, back to the story.

Stepping out of the dressing room, Yang looks me up and down in appraisal. "You look awesome, bro." she eventually says, as we bump fists. I miss the first time, eye and all, but I make successful contact on the second attempt "The blank eye actually works in your favour here, makes you more intimidating. Do those shoes add to your height at all?"

"Seems so." I seem to be about two or so inches taller, thanks to the boots. Borrao looks on, clearly impressed with her own handiwork. I'd be if I were here, this is amazing for ten minutes of work. How the hell does she do it?

"I fused the clothes with gravity Dust, as per your request. That should help with maneuverability and jump height."

"Thanks Borrao. How much do I owe you?"

I pay her the regular fee (reasonable for this level of handiwork) plus a hefty tip, and leave the store. I pull out my Scroll on the way out and log the location on the mapping software if I ever need some more clothes like these. Shit, I forgot to ask about the yellow sauce. Ah well, I'm sure I'll be back soon enough. It's really weird though, who needs that much sauce? It just drowns out the flavour of whatever you put the sauce on. Plus, no sauce should be that neon yellow, not even crappy artificial mustard's that yellow.

"Alright, should we head back to campus?"

"Probably a good idea, the girls might be getting worried."

"Yeah. Wonder what Eadie makes of all this." I create the portal and trip on the sidewalk as I walk towards it. This results in me falling through the tear onto the floor of the dorm room. Shit, way to nail that intro. Doesn't seem like anybody's here though, so it's not too much of an embarrassment.

"This eye's going to be a pain in my arse, isn't it?"

"Probably. Just tell yourself it builds character. You always seem to mumble about character building and cheerful denial in your sleep, I meant to tell you earlier."

"Shit, I'm sorry. Does that wake you up at all? I'll try to stop if it does."

"No, not unless we're sleeping together. You're kind of cute when you do that, in an existential philosophy kind of way." Yang says, smiling in that way only she knows how to. "You know, it's getting late. Should we go out looking for the girls or just wait for them here?"

I light a cigarette and think for a bit. "Hmmmm...I'm going to pop out and see Eadie, then I'll probably hit the hay. I'll greet the girls when I get back, but I need to have a Bro Meeting and a cold one."

"Sure thing. I'll go find the girls and tell them you're fine. See ya." We walk our separate ways, Yang to wherever the girls are, me to the lake.


	16. Chapter 18: Fishing

Chapter Eighteen: Fishing

"Cheers." We clink cans and drink in unison, as we look out on the lake. I knew I'd find Eadie here. He likes to go fishing when he's stressed. I remember there was some massive standardised test back in London, it was a pretty big deal. While I was hunched over a bunch of practice papers trying to cram as much knowledge in my brain as possible, I received a text from him, inviting me out for a spot of fishing. I remember accepting and heading down with him, sitting on a pier and relaxing in the fading sunlight. I caught fuck-all, but he caught a few decently-sized bream. Both of us actually went into the test feeling really good about everything, and I passed with flying colours. Eadie did pretty well as well, 83% if I recall correctly.

Anyway, we're just chilling, lines cast out into the water and drinking. No idea how Eadie got his hands on a few six-packs of ale, but I'm not complaining. I'm more of a whisky man myself, but this is some high-quality shit, so I'm pretty happy with it. It's a certain type of mateship you learn to appreciate, being able to drink together in comfortable silence as we wait for a bait. This is the closest to home I've felt in a long time.

Eadie eventually breaks the silence after a false flag. "I was pretty worried about you, mate."

"As you probably shouldn't have been. I mean, the girls have taken way worse, I'm sure."

"Yeah, but you're not them bro, you're not bred as strong, I guess."

"I suppose. Either way, we've got the riot thing on tomorrow, so I don't have time to mope. Enough about me though, how are you and Blake getting on?"

"Oh, MAN, we're 'getting along' _very_ well, if you catch my drift." He winks at me and nudges me with his elbow, as if he could be any more obvious with what he's actually suggesting.

"Yep, yep, I figured. With the books she reads, I figured she was a closet freak."

"Well, we did fuck in a closet, so you're more right than you thought."

"Woooah, bro, hold the fuck on, I wasn't being literal but that's awesome. How was it?"

"A little too dark for my taste, but other than that it was pretty cool. Just don't tell any of team JNPR, they believed me when I said I dropped ice cream in there." This predictably causes me to spit out my cigarette in laughter.

"You have my word, Eadie, my lips are sealed. You know, I was wondering how long it would take for you to get your dick wet with one of my teammates. I figured it was inevitable, but that's a record time even for you."

"You aren't mad, are you?"

"Not mad, not disappointed. Blake seems really happy with you around, you can tell. Besides, it's not like I have any control over what she does, or any right to care. Just...don't get her pregnant, alright? We definitely don't need a pregnancy scare right now."

I light a cigarette and notice Eadie scratching the back of his neck and looking guilty. "Yeah, about that..."

"Don't tell me you got Blake pregnant bro don't say it oh my fucking God don't you dare say it bro-"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I may be an idiot but I'm not stupid, I know to use protection." This calms my racing heart down a little and I sigh deeply, taking a drag to calm my nerves down.

"You had me worried there. Wait until you graduate, at least."

"Yeah...I'd like kids one day, you know. Whether they be with Blake or whatever."

"Hmm...I reckon you'd make an awesome dad. I couldn't have kids, no way in Hell, but we're different people."

"Well according to the Bro Code, Rule 75, 'when a Bro has a kid his Bros become honorary uncles'."

"I can live with unclehood. Shit," I notice my rod bending, I think I hooked something while I wasn't paying attention, "I think I got one." I start reeling that fish in, turning the reel handle as fast as possible, moving the rod left and right slightly to tire it out. When it gets to the point that I can see it under the surface, I yank upwards and the fish flies out of the water.

"Eyy, nice catch, man. Keep or throw back?"

"Hmm...it is a nice size but I don't know what we'd do with it...oh, I know! Give it to Blake, you know how much she loves fish."

"Are you sure, mate? I mean, you caught it and all, don't you want to give it to her?"

"Eadie, I'm trying to get pussy, just not _that_ pussy, if you know what I'm saying. It'll score you some man points for sure. Tell her you caught it especially for her."

"Thanks, man. I owe you one." We fist bump and I swiftly kill the fish with a shot in the head from my revolver. Overkill, sure, but at least I hit the damn thing. I was expecting to miss, but whatever. We chuck it in a cold box to keep it fresh and I rebait my line, casting it back into the water. As I'm doing this, I hear a few pairs of footsteps. I swear to God if I'm going to get ganked by Cardin's goons again, I might end up murdering one of the fuckers. However, when I turn around, it's actually Dr Oobleck and Professor Port. Shit, teachers. We've got alcohol in us and near us. This should've been planned more in advance. Play it cool, Com, maybe they haven't noticed.

"Hello, Mr Kellner, Mr Galwey. Doing a spot of fishing, I see? Caught anything?"

"Yep, we caught a reasonably-sized fish, don't know the type though. Might be a tuna or a gudgeon. You guys fish here very often?"

"Well, what with the nonstop schedule of teacherhood, it's difficult to find time to do such things. It's a shame, I rather enjoy fishing." I see Port's holding a fishing rod, a damn good one as well. Looks pretty top-of-the-range. "Mind if I join you?"

"No problem. We've got bait right over there." Eadie says, gesturing over to our bag of bait. Of course he forgets that it's resting up against the six-pack of fucking Fosters. God damn it Eadie.

"Fosters, hey? Aren't you two under the legal drinking age?" Port raises one of his massive eyebrows inquisitively. I'm a terrible liar, and if they check the registry they'd find out the truth anyway, so I just decide to tell the truth.

"Yep. We're not far off though."

"Hmm...I'll let it slide...for a can. And a can for Oobleck over here." Dr Oobleck's been off to the side this whole time, looking out at the lake, occasionally moving to see it from a different angle. I see Eadie grin.

"Sure, sounds like a fair trade-off. You guys do that, I'm going to go and grill this fish for Blake. Text her and let her know I'm picking up dinner." With that Eadie takes the cold box, a knife for deboning and his Fosters and moves off of the pier to the barbeque area. I don't doubt that fish is going to be delicious, Eadie's always had a knack for barbeque work. Maybe it's his Australian heritage, or whatever. Port takes Eadie's seat, opens a Fosters and casts a line, while Oobleck goes to join Eadie. Doesn't seem like fishing would be his thing, I doubt he has the patience for it.

"So, I take it that you and Eadie were friends before Beacon?"

"Yep. We were both in the same school back in our dimension. Crazy that we found each other over here. We go waaay back, even before school."

"Hmm, I guessed as much. You know, me and Bart-I mean, Dr Oobleck, we actually went to school together."

"Really? I never knew."

"Yes, we were actually friends between teams, me a senior, him a freshman. I got held back a little bit, but I'm not that old, you know. When he graduated we both went for a teaching position at this school, and we actually went for a group interview. Luckily we both got a job eventually, but it took Dr Oobleck a few more interviews to convince Oz."

"Damn. I wondered why you guys seemed like such good friends. Pretty cool that you've stayed friends for all this time."

"He's a good friend to have."

We lapse into silence for a little while, just focusing on the fishing. Albeit for the typical small talk and an anecdote about a disastrous mission both Port and Oobleck went on in their younger years, fairly little more of substance is said. After a little while, Blake shows up, sees the fish being grilled by Eadie and hugs him. She's really smiling, I mean it's a sweet gesture from Eadie, isn't it? He winks at me over her shoulder as they hug, and when they separate he plates up and walks over with Blake to the park bench to eat. While I'm focusing on this, Port snaps me away from the scene.

"Considering the looks that both Mr Galwey and Ms Belladonna share during my lessons, coupled with the fact he cooked dinner for her using a fish he caught, am I right in saying that the two are... together?"

"I caught that fish and gave it to him to give to her, and you're right. Forgive the two if they sometimes skip class, it's 'young love'. Makes ya do stupid things."

"You sound rather cynical about it. Any particular reason why?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that Eadie's always doing this, always with some girl or other. I hope it works out, he has trouble coping with being alone. Besides, the two are really happy together."

"Well, I've seen you and Ms Xiao Long sharing the same looks." Before I can say anything, Port stops me and continues. "I was young once, you know. I was just like you when training at a school for Huntsman and Huntresses. And I understand where it's all coming from. But take this advice from a man with experience. Don't end your relationship on bad terms if you're on the same team. You need to keep a good team chemistry up, and a bad breakup will ruin that team chemistry."

"Well, hopefully it won't come to that, but I've thought about that and already considered it. Don't worry, I've got it all under control." I hope I do anyway. I'm sure we'd work it out if we did break up, we're both mature people.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgement on that one. Well", he says, hauling himself off the fishing chair and reeling in his line, "I'd better be going. I've got a test I need to prepare for the second-years. Enjoy the rest of your night, Mr Kellner."

"You too, Sir. Good luck with that." With that, Port walks off, fishing rod in hand, and Oobleck joins him. I'm pretty sure Oobleck tells a joke as the two walk off together, because Port laughs and I think I see the two bump fists. I shift my gaze from the two teachers to Eadie and Blake, who are in the middle of making out on top of the park bench, lying across it while kissing. I've got to say, Eadie's form is top-notch stuff. That's the Eadie who I was expecting to rear his head. I would go over and eat some of that fish, it looks really nice, but I don't know. Seems wrong to interrupt them. Besides, I don't want to be a third wheel again. I often was the third wheel while Eadie was dating some repulsive bitch back on Earth, but according to rule 56 and 85 of the Bro Code, there wasn't much I could do. Besides, I didn't want to be that guy, you know? I pack up my fishing gear, take the last drag of my cigarette before crushing it underfoot, and walk away from the two, heading back to the room. I can guess where those two are headed, and something tells me I don't need to be there.

I sigh, hands in my overcoat pockets, my fishing gear placed in a portal for the time being. I should be happy for the two, I really should, but I feel like I'm not only losing Eadie, but also losing Blake. It's like the two are never here without each other. And the time that me and my bro get to hang out alone, we're interrupted by both the teachers and Blake. Using one of my hands, I rub my eyes. It's getting quite late, so I'll get back to the dorm. That's my plan, until I realise that Blake and Eadie will probably be heading there later. After a few rings, Yang picks up her Scroll and answers me. "Yes?"

"Hey, Yang. You want to go get dinner somewhere? Something tells me it's probably not the best idea to be in the dorm in ten or so minutes."

"Any reason why, or just a hunch?" I picture Yang on the other end, twirling her hair with the hand she's not holding her phone with. Then again, that might only happen in movies. Again, regardless of how much experience I've had over here, I'm relatively new to this whole flirtation thing.

"Let's just say that Eadie and Blake are getting along very well, in that private way that others typically shouldn't be around to witness unless they're into that sort of thing which in my limited experience at least is somewhat of a rarity."

"Sure, sounds good. Am I the only one who was surprised that the two ended up together?"

"Well I expected it from the word go, but that's because I know Eadie. Didn't expect that Blake would like him back, he didn't exactly seem like her type."

"I'm...actually not that surprised she likes him. I mean, she had that thing with Adam, before...shit happened, y'know? I'm not implying they're similar," she says, hastily backtracking, "I'm just saying-it's hard to explain, but you get what I'm trying to say, right?"

"Yeah, totally. Anyway, you know anywhere we could go?"

"Hmm...nope. I have a couple of ideas but nothing that really stands out. Maybe we could just walk around, see what we find?"

"Sounds fun. I'll meet you by the gates in fifteen. Love ya."

"See you then. Love you too." With that, I hang up and realise I've got nothing to do for those fifteen minutes I need to wait. Hmm...I peek my head through a portal back to the pier. Eadie and Blake are still at it, yep, and it is getting preeeeeety lewd. Blake's always been relatively conservative and reserved in public, but she doesn't seem to care right now, as Eadie runs one hand through her hair and places one hand on her arse. Since they don't seem to notice me I stroll back to the edge of the pier and sit down, legs dangling off, feet nearly touching the water, as I prepare to light another cigarette. On second thoughts, I don't think I need another, I'll save it for later perhaps.

It's times like this, even when I may as well be alone, that I feel more connected than ever.


	17. Chapter 19: Before the Storm

Chapter Nineteen: Before The Storm

I end up hitching a ride with Yang, driving into the city on the back of her motorcycle. It was a pretty nice ride. The wind's a little cold today, and you can definitely feel it while going at high speed on a motorbike with very little by the way of windbreakers. This is why we're both in warm and comfy sweatshirt-sweatpants combos. I'm wearing gray sweatpants that I've had ever since I landed in Beacon, these were actually the ones I fell to Earth in, and a white hoodie with Beacon's logo emblazoned in black on the front. Yang's wearing similar grey sweatpants and a yellow hooded sweatshirt with her symbol where a breast pocket would be. It smells like roasted marshmallows, a comforting smell to me, and I almost fall asleep on the back of Yang's bike. I probably would've if there wasn't so much damn wind. If neither of us are going to dress up there's no problem with not making an effort.

You know, one thing that I've noticed about the girls in the past two months or so, that I hadn't noticed in the other six months I've known them for, is their makeup routines. That's a very strange thing to pick up on, but I get bored and find myself spacing out in the girls' directions and I just pick up on weird stuff, y'know? Like the fact that I've never seen Weiss or Blake chew with their mouths open, and I've never seen Ruby or Weiss drink coffee. As well as that, I've noticed that while Blake rarely laughs, when she does her laugh will make her laugh harder. It's a funny, tragic cycle. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh right, makeup.

Typically Blake will do the whole shebang, eyeliner, eyeshadow, all that, minus the lipstick. Then again, none of team RWBY use lipstick. Weird. Weiss will typically use that eyelash brush...thing that girls use, along with some of that face powder stuff. As you can tell by my vivid, accurate descriptions, I've never been one for makeup. Then again I'm a guy, and I'm no metrosexual, so that's to be expected. Meanwhile Yang only uses a little bit of blush, and Ruby doesn't wear any at all. I pick up on the strangest things when I should be paying attention to my homework and assignments.

We end up walking through the city, checking out some of the stores, before stumbling across some kind of festival that neither of us were aware was being held. Seems a bit like Chinese New Year from over in my reality, lots of yellows, reds and golds everywhere. I notice that there seem to be Dust-infused fireworks prepared for launch pretty close by on the outskirts of the city. It's a pretty nice festival already, there's some kind of warm feeling going around here. During our walk along the festival area, I see dancers dressed in some kinds of traditional yellow garments that expose their midriffs. Their movements are slow but fluid, almost hypnotising in a sense, and I record a couple of cool stunts done by street performers. One dude was dressed in a yellow tuxedo, swallowed a chunk of lightning Dust and proceeded to conduct the current through his body and power a television. It was pretty hardcore, after doing my research a few months back I learnt that most forms of Dust are lethal when swallowed. I guess gravity Dust is an exception.

"Hey Yang." I say, as we both peruse the different stalls set up along the main street.

"What is it, Com?"

"Do you know why this festival is happening?" I manage to dodge a couple walking straight towards me, eyes glued to their phones. I proceed to flip them the bird through my trouser pocket. Cheeky cunts, show some awareness.

"Don't quote me on this, but I think this is a Maiden Festival. They happen four times a year, but the specific dates kinda move around. Since we're in Summer now, and judging by the emphasis on yellow colours, this would be the Summer Maiden festival."

"Pretty cool, hey? Oh, hold on a sec." I pop over to a stall that sells some kind of sacred wooden charms with runic engravings. I feel in a sentimental mood today, and decide to pick one up, the purple one to be specific. I didn't look at what the colour represented until I bought it, but turns out it's a peace-granting charm. Nice, I could use this when I get stressed. Yang, predictably, picks up a yellow one, also predictably, without looking at it's meaning.

"Hmm...this says that it's a charm against evil. That's not really a yellow kind of thing to protect from, is it? Besides, I don't need protection from evil, I'll punch evil in it's face myself!"

"Hmm, fair point. Want to trade?" Yang agrees and takes the purple charm and I take the yellow charm. I'll just hang that around my neck, riiiight...there we go. I've got to say, I quite like this design. The runes are etched into the borders of this charm with fine detail, and the runes themselves look similar to a mix of Elder and Younger Futhark. I actually have quite an affinity for rune-reading, making sure I memorised the representations each rune had along with their English counterparts and how to draw them. If I recall correctly on the day I fell to Remnant, I wasn't wearing my special ring. That ring had those very same runes on it, and I wore it nearly every day. Yang snaps me out of my reflections after a minute or two of walking in silence.

"Com?"

"Yeah?" I turn my head to ensure I meet her gaze. I'm definitely better at that now, at meeting people's gazes while talking to them. In general I feel like I'm much better with people, mostly because of my teammates. Yang snaps her fingers in front of my face, jarring me out of my thoughts once again.

"You alright? You just spaced out again. You do that a little bit."

"Yeah, shit, sorry. I just get lost in my reflections and my own little internal monologue. Sorry if I do that when you're talking, I try not to."

"No, no, it's cool, I get it. I was just going to ask what you wanted to do for dinner." At the mere mention of food I hear my stomach going off at me, growling like a savage animal. That seems to suggest that the time is right for a little scran.

"Well, the markets are up. Seems like a missed opportunity if we don't get some authentic festival cuisine. Which stall, however, I'm not so sure."

"We could get noodles from that store back on 3rd Street West. A Simple Wok's noodles are pretty good, but I'm up for something new."

"Good idea. I'm up for some orient-style spaghetti strands covered in a variety of sauces and typically accompanied by a wide selection of vegetables."

"Umm...I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

"Nah, sometimes I just like getting really analytical."

We find our way back to that stand, pick up some of those previously mentioned orient-style spaghetti strands. I'm not feeling particularly hungry, so I just get a small pad thai, but Yang orders a whole bucket of phat wun sen. I guess being that beautiful works up an appetite, hey? We take our noodles to a bench under a marble statue in the centre of a crossroads of sorts, of a faceless huntsman standing on the back of a Beowulf. It seems to be commemorating the lost huntsmen and huntresses throughout the years. The plaque attached is full of so many names I doubt I could read them all today.

"Should I be concerned about this, Yang?" I say jokingly, pointing behind us at the memorial. "That list of names is larger than my list of grievances, and that's saying something."

"Well, as long as you have your teammates to watch your back, you'll be fine. And you'll always have us by your side, Com. No matter what."

"Thanks, Yang. I'll be there for you guys too." I stretch out a little and stuff one of my cheeks full of pad thai. It's some of the best I've ever tasted, the peanut sauce is just tangy enough without coming across as overly biting. I love peanuts to bits, but I'm glad this sauce has zero bits of the sort. "You know, it's going to be pretty crazy when we graduate. Team RWBY and team JNPR will be the first teams of five members to ever graduate Beacon. Making history, eh?"

"I suppose, but numbers don't mean anything. It's not about how many people are in the group, it's about how good they are, isn't it? Skill beats numbers every time." Yang inhales some more of her phat wun sen and shuffles a little closer to me. To an outsider it probably just looked like a readjustment to her seating, but I can guess that's not just it.

"Hmm. I guess you're right. I mean you guys hardly have any problems with that. You know what I'd like to see," I chuckle, "I'd like to see you fight our world's best fighters. Touch gloves and they're down in three seconds. You'd make bucketloads." I begin drifting off imagining Yang punching McGregor straight out of the octagon and through the roof of the damn stadium, then trashing his mansion with Ruby and Zwei, but I snap myself back to reality again.

"Well if none of them have Semblances, or even an Aura, it'd be more than a little boring."

"Fair point. You're not one to take the easy route, hey? But actually, I'm pretty sure people from my dimension do have an Aura. I mean, I had one, it just wasn't awakened, you see? My Aura's weird though, it's not typical."

"Well, I certainly don't mind. You're special, with or without your Aura, your dimension or your Semblance."

We lapse into silence for a little while, both of us focused on filling our mouths with the maximum amount of noodles possible. Neither of us are particularly concerned with table manners or dining etiquette, so our rate of noodles eaten per minute is relatively high. We finish our food, dispose of the containers in the nearest bin (I'm only a litterer when it comes to cigs, alright? Don't judge me too harshly) and walk towards the waterfront to get the best view of the upcoming fireworks. The wind's a little colder out here in the open, but it's nothing too extreme, not like my breath's misting up or anything like that. The lanterns hung up outside the waterfront shops cast their yellow glows out onto the water, creating some beautiful shimmering reflections, like little candle lights. Luckily Remnant doesn't have your typical gasoline-powered transport, typically vehicles over here are powered either by electricity or Dust in rare cases, so there's less air pollution in the big cities. The stars in the now-turned-night sky are beautiful, something I rarely saw being a Londoner and all. We're a little more separated from the festival's hustle and bustle now, so the relative silence (apart from the fairly faint sounds of the festival and the occasional car noise) is appreciated. Just walking along the waterfront, holding hands, is a feeling I can't describe.

My time in London flashes back to me all of a sudden, not in my dreamy recollective type of way that I typically do, but vividly and in-your-face, like some kind of Vietnam flashback. Except it's about London. A London flashback. Either way, this flash of recollection brings me back to seven months ago, just before I came over here. In this vision I see myself hunched over my keyboard tapping away at a story I was working on for a long time. I pause my intense tapping to reach over to a bottle of whiskey next to me, and bring it to my lips. I can see my Adam's apple bobbing up and down as I down that whiskey like a thirsty man lost in the desert. When my old self separates my lips from the lips of the bottle, like some alcoholic's kiss, I attempt to put it down, but the bottle falls out of my grasp and spills the contents remaining onto the PC. Sparks fly out from the unit, and the image on the screen freezes, blinks and eventually disappears. At this point I already know what's coming next, as this was one of the lowest moments in my life. I neglected to back up any of my files, so that was two whole years of hard work, lost in an instance. My old self's now recovered from shock, that abused brain fully processing this occurrence, and is slumped onto the keyboard. The tears leak from my eyes onto the keyboard, causing the RGB lighting to falter and shut down as well.

That was the night I attempted to kill myself. I'd had those thoughts for a while now, taken a little medication for it in the past, but I was never seriously prepared to do it. Apart from just then. My memory falters, then seems to almost fast-forward to me, with pills in hand and whatever whiskey was remaining in the other, and just about to down the lot. But seconds away from taking the action that would end everything for me, my phone beeps. I forgot, of course, that the new season of RWBY ended today. I'd had other things on my mind, but that little notification halted me in my tracks, and killed any determination I had. It wasn't really the show, but that notification jolted me from my prepared state. As the gravity of what I'd nearly just done dawned on me, I fucking broke down, I did. I just lay on the floor, the carpet uncomfortably scratching my cheek, and cried until I'd emptied myself of all the tears I thought it was possible for a human to possess.

In the end I didn't even attempt it again. I poured the whiskey down the sink and threw the pills down with it. I ended up binging every episode of RWBY that night, alternating between watching and crying and watching some more.

It's safe to say that night, that RWBY saved my life.

I took the next day off school and watched the show again, not to recover but almost as some sort of pilgrimage. And the next day. On the third day though, I bucked up and went to school, looking like a wreck. Luckily nobody asked any questions.

This flashback only lasts around a second, I'm pretty sure, but it felt like it lasted an hour. When I return to the land of the living I feel the presence of tears in my eyes, and Yang picks up on that soon enough.

"Hey. Com?"

"Hmm?" Yang looks into my eyes as we continue walking. I wipe the tears out of my eyes as best I can with my spare hand. Jesus, I did not like that. Well, I'm out of that place now, into this one, so I should just try my best not to forget it.

"What's wrong? Are you crying?"

"Nope, it's just..." I try to hide a sniff by covering my nose with my sleeve. I don't think it worked. "I...wasn't in a very good place...before I ended up here. Mentally, I mean. Just over a week before I fell into Remnant, I...I was depressed, I was a mess, I couldn't cope with the stress of school, I felt incredibly lonely, and the project I'd worked on for two years was destroyed completely." I drop the veneer of strength and look at Yang, the tears starting to well up in my eyes once again. "I got to the point where I was about to kill myself. I was there, I was going to do it."

At this, Yang's eyes widen and she squeezes my hand as tight as she can. "Oh my God, Com, I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

"Yang, you don't need to be sorry. Because, you know how I mentioned you had a TV show over in our dimension?" Yang nods, tears starting to build up in her eyes too. "Seconds before I was going to do it, I got a notification that the new RWBY episode was out. Then _poof_ , my resolve in the heat of the moment was gone." Even though there are tears on both of our faces now, I smile at her. I don't even need to force it. "Yang, you guys were the reason I lived in that moment. You were the one who picked me up when I was lost in Vale. You were the one who helped me recover, by being who you are. Yang," I say, a tremor appearing in my voice now, "you are the reason I'm still alive now. Thank you, for everything, for saving my life."

Yang stands there, seemingly speechless, before hugging me as tight as she can. Jesus, she's strong. However, I remember the first time being hugged by her, which hurt quite a lot. I guess I'm stronger now, which is a comforting thought.

Yang's lips meet mine as I wrap my arms around her, and we both close our tear-filled eyes. I guess it shows that beauty can eventually blossom from a place of despair, or something like that. I honestly don't mind the fact that I can taste the salt of the tears, or feel the moistness of our cheeks, because I'm over it all now. Yang and the rest of the team helped me recover from all the shit I'd been through in the past. The fresh start was nice and all, but it wasn't the name causing me all the hassle, it was the me that I couldn't change alone. Then the girls showed up, and they did what I never had the strength to do myself.

As we kiss, I run my hand through Yang's beautiful yellow hair. It's incredibly silky, I've noticed she takes remarkable care of it. The fact that she's perfectly comfortable with me touching her hair speaks volumes. Her lips are as soft as mine are rough from smoking for years now. Luckily I haven't smoked for a while today, so my breath doesn't reek of fumes. We push together, as she wraps her arms around me, holding me close.

We stand there as the moon rises into the sky, and we eventually separate, walking along the beachfront as the moon's reflection joins the lights of the city in their little festival dance.


	18. Chapter 20: Hurricane

Chapter Twenty: Hurricane

I'm sitting on the roof of the tallest building of this sector. I'm keeping watch over the commercial area of Vale's inner cities, and if I see any activity that suggests rioting, I'm supposed to hop through a tear and alert both team RWBY and JNPR. However, since I don't have the greatest eyesight right now, I'm accompanied by Jaune. It's a harsh reality, but I feel like the teams put him up here to stay out of harm's way. Either way, he's alright in my book. While Jaune keeps his eyes out on one side of the building facing the more commercial area, I'm keeping my one eye on the office district, perched on top of the extruding part of the stairs.

"Hey, Com!" Jaune yells over at me. It's pretty windy so we need to yell to each other to make sure we can hear each other. I've noticed Jaune's a little hard of hearing, then again I'm not exactly one to judge.

"Yeah? You see anything?" I yell back, taking the cigarette out of my mouth to answer. Jaune walks over to where I sit, and I join him behind the stairwell where it's sheltered against the wind.

"No, not yet. I just wanted to ask you something now that we're alone."

"What? You could probably have just caught me alone back at school, but I'm free. Shoot."

"Do you think...Pyrrha likes me?"

My eyes (well, one eye and one ball of blank glass) roll so hard they're at threat of rolling out of my fucking sockets. "Mate, are you kidding me? YES, she's been trying to get you to notice for over a year now! Jesus fucking Christ." I shake my head and relight my smoke. "You need to make a move before she moves on, man, this isn't some kind of common opportunity."

"A-alright. I'll do that. Hey, do you have any alcohol on you? I'm really nervous, man, I'm shaking." I check his body and he's not wrong, but I can't tell if that's because he's nervous or cold. Either way, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd lie to my face to bum some booze, so I draw out a bottle of whisky and throw it to him.

"Don't drink too much, we need you sober when you're fighting."

Jaune walks away with the bottle of booze, and I throw my cigarette off the roof of the building onto the street below, resuming my spot watching the office blocks. Towers stretch out for miles and miles underneath me. Hmm...that tower around twenty metres from us looks preeeetty far away. But these clothes...my clothes, sensing my preparation to leap, glow a little more vividly. I stand up, the cold winds whipping at my face and making my long coat blow behind me. I just need to make sure that my depth perception's right. I look back at Jaune, he seems to have drunk a fair amount of whiskey already.

"Jaune, chuck us the whiskey!" I holler at him. He seems to vaguely hear me, turning around and pointing at the bottle. I summon Lefty from a portal to give him the thumbs up. Jaune obliges, tossing the bottle underarm to Lefty who catches it between his thumb and forefinger, then floats it over to me.

Alright, steady arm, steady aim...I hurl the bottle at the roof of the building to gauge the distance between the roofs. Seems like that throw was a little short, which doesn't really help my already agitated state. Ah well, fuck it. I'll just create a portal to fall into if I miss. I take one step back, then two, then three, breathe in and out, and run full-speed at the edge of the roof. As I reach the end of the roof I place my last step so that it's slightly over the edge, and push off it hard for extra distance. My body hurtles through the air, and I clear that distance with ease, nice. Alright, let's just land riiiight…

Oh shit.

I overshot my jump.

Well, I cleared the building, and the building after that. Jesus Christ, that's a little overkill. I mean, when I first reached here clearing ten metres was an impossible dream, and without any gravity Dust enhancement now I can clear around fifteen, but clearing seventy? That's impossible for a Londoner.

Then again, I am hurtling to the ground at a particularly high speed after clearing those seventy metres, so I can't really say that anymore. Oh yeah, I should probably do something before I hit the ground, hey? Even if I pull off a great superhero landing I'm not going to escape without a pulled muscle or worse.

My hand flares with a purple glow as I prepare to create a portal underneath me, before out of the corner of my working eye I notice flames and smoke. Seems like it's occurring in the East district, where Weiss and Eadie are situated. Ahh shit, I should go help them out. I create two connected tears right next to each other, both aiming upwards. My body hurtles into one, then reappears at the other, heading upwards ridiculously fast. Well that gravity Dust is helping me out now, I guess.

I pass Jaune on the way up, who looks at me flabbergasted as I sail into the air. As I reach the peak of my height I clear my throat and holler at him. "TELL EVERYONE IT'S KICKING OFF IN EAST SECTOR! GOTTA GO BYE." With that I plunge back down to Earth, angling myself headfirst to ensure minimal air friction. Jesus, this is like skydiving on crack. Hopefully I'm close to reaching terminal velocity, that would provide me with all the propulsion I need.

I hit the portal I placed earlier, but instead emerge from a portal I placed above Jaune's building. Luckily I angled the portal the right way or I might've gone flying into the Central Business District instead of the East sector. Looks like I've got a minute or so to kill while my body hurtles at ridiculous speeds towards the riot. I _could_ call up the girls to alert them, but judging by the intensity of the wind against me, the call wouldn't be audible on either side. So I just reload my revolver and check all the procedures are in place if we meet Shiin again.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Turns out we missed a couple of Talon activities when we found those folders back at the warehouse. A few minor incidents of assault were reported on the news a while back, maybe a month or so. Luckily, one of that cyborg motherfucker's henchman told the cops their name.

Shiin Gami.

Sadly I don't know their gender quite yet, that'd make the author's job much easier ( _it sure would, find that out soon Com, ya lazy prick._ -Ben). I'm guessing...male? That level of flat is something to behold if Shiin is a woman. Hey, I'm not judging-oh shit, I'm nearly there-

. . . . .

As I'm about to slam into a concrete building and break every single bone in my body, Weiss notices my figure hurtling down from the sky and catches my in one of her black Glyphs. Even that impact hurt a little, but I manage to free myself, landing on my feet.

My eyes and body adjusting to the absurd amount of fire and smoke, I can vaguely make out what appears to be Eadie and Weiss working together to take down a pack of Beowulves, probably drawn to this area by the negativity. Weiss stabs one through it's furry neck with her Myrtenaster, impaling another one through the side with an icicle from a Glyph. Eadie finishes off a wounded Grimm with a solid stomp to the head as it's body evaporates into that bizarre grey sand...substance. He turns and tears a hole through another Grimm's chest with a single punch. I guess with me, Weiss and all the hostile life watching, his Semblance may be taking effect. But it seems even more powerful than it was back in the club, with even more people watching us.

The sound of a helicopter's blades catches my attention, and I raise my sights up to the sky. Ohhh, it's a news helicopter. I suppose if the camera's trained on Eadie, all those watching at home are adding to his Semblance's power. When I turn my sights back to the fighting duo, Eadie's picked up a motherfucking delivery truck, and hurls it at a group of charging Ursas. The truck collides with the Grimm and ends up crushing them against the wall behind them, as their bodies vapourise.

What the fuck am I just standing here for? This isn't a time for idle observations. I hear a screech from overhead. Seems a Nevermore has perched themselves of an apartment building and is calling more Grimm to their location. I swiftly put an end to that by opening a tear in front of it's face. Lefty and Doma grab the bird's face, almost as if they were trying to strangle it's head, and crush it's skull in between them. The headless body of the Nevermore falls off the apartment block and crushes more Grimm before it disintegrates.

For all the Grimm activity, I don't see any rioters considering it was supposed to be, y'know, a riot. Maybe they all fled when the Grimm showed up? I don't know, if that's what happened I wasn't here to see it.

The Grimm seem to have thinned out by now, and I turn my attention to Weiss and Eadie, who seem to be booking it down an alley a few metres away from me. Eadie isn't as fast as me or Weiss, so I manage to catch up to him, panting and breathing heavily.

"Eadie...man...where are all the rioters?"

"When the Grimm showed up they moved to the South sector."

My eyes widen. "Oh shit. I told the girls the riot was on over here. I'll meet you in South sector, I need to go find them." With that I hop into a tear that leads to a kind of dimension surveillance room. Here I can use tears to find the girls. Seems like Yang and Blake are still in South Sector, but West Sector and North Sector seem to be lacking the rest of our teammates. Seems like the citizens were evacuated, considering all the Grimm attacks that are happening. I hop back to the rooftop, where Jaune's freaking out. He seems to be hyperventilating, doubled over and leaning against the stairwell. Guess that alcohol didn't really help him out too much.

"Bro, change of plans. I gotta dash but tell the girls to meet up in the CBD. I'll take it from there, text me once everyone knows. You alright?" Jaune looks up at me, his face pale. I notice a puddle of vomit behind him, then turn away so I don't join him. I hate vomit, and if I see someone else's vomit I'm just going to end up adding to the problem at hand.

"I'm fine, Com, just feeling a little sick. I'm on it, you can go." With that, I leap back into my portal as Jaune pulls out his Scroll. Hopefully everything works out right and he pulls himself together. If (when) shit goes down we might need him.

. . . . .

From my surveillance kind of room, I spot Ren and Nora walking in the streets of the CBD. From the looks of things they haven't encountered any hostility quite yet. They look relatively unharmed, I sense near-to-full Aura from them. Lucky bastards. After a while the two parties (Ren and Nora, Ruby and Pyrrha) meetup in the centre. Ruby looks pretty stressed, concern etched into her typically calm face. I portal in, landing with ease, on a roof pretty close to them so I can survey the nearby area. Seems pretty clear, so why is Ruby so panicked. Either way, I call down to them. "GUYS! GET IN THE TEAR WHEN IT OPENS!" Ren seems to have heard me because he meets my eyes and nods, then talks to everyone else. After a bit everyone looks at me and gives me the thumbs up, and I warp to South Sector, on top of another building. This micromanaging-feeling bullshit's a lot harder than I first thought. Either way, I still don't think it's a good idea to get into any hand-to-hand combat with the state of my vision.

I scan the surrounding area and judging by the collapse of a nearby concrete building I'd say that's where I'd find Yang. A second after thinking this I hear high-pitched screams punctuated by gunshots, then silence.

A hand appears on my shoulder and I nearly shit myself in fear. I wheel around, tears at the ready to deliver a certain...punishment I've dreamed of (the less said about that dimension the better), but it turns out it's just Eadie.

"Jesus, bro, what the fuck?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry." he says, putting his hands up in pretend surrender. "I just need to tell you, there's a massive gathering of rioters in that building over there. We need to do something about it soon, mate." He points in the direction of what looks like a massive shopping outlet on the border of South Sector, straying slightly into CBD territory. I see masked faces and hooded hoodlums milling around through the cracked window panes. Seems like smoke is coming from the east side. I sigh and look towards Eadie.

"So, you want me to annihilate the building with a meteor?" Eadie nods his head, and I shake mine in response. "Do I look angry enough to do that right now?"

"I guess not. You have any better ideas?"

"Well, I've got a certain little contraption I've been building up for a while that might just do the trick, but I think it's best if we save it. This place seems like it's the base of operations for the time being, so destroying it will get that cyborg bastard's attention. I'll take care of this, you set up Firecracker at this location. The girls will be there when you arrive." I pull out my Scroll and tap away, sending Eadie directions to Smoky Correctional Facility. That's just a fancy way of saying that it's a disused prison that hasn't been knocked down quite yet due to potential renovation opportunities. It's a pretty nice place, all things considered. "It'll be in the ventilation system over the massive stash of hentai I stole from those Talon members in the loading bay."

"Yep, I remember. Did you keep any of them with that one chick who wore that thing? Then she didn't wear it? Then-"

"You think I'd ditch that? Boy, that's primo, you don't ditch that kind of stuff unless you want to be crucified by the Connoisseur's League™ . Just don't let the girls into that room, that is for my and your eyes only. Maybe Jaune's, but he doesn't pin me as that type."

I create one multi-faceted tear in Smoky Correctional Facility, and a few other portals, one in the CBD, one at Jaune's position, one in South Sector where Blake and Yang are recovering from a throwdown and one for Weiss. I set the tears to close after a minute and turn to face the shopping centre. Smoke rises in lazy curls from the East side, and I hear a window break, seemingly smashed open by a rioter. The yells and cries of the angry masses grate against my ears, the harshness of their noises causing discomfort. Luckily, I'm pretty sure…

Yep, there they are. I pull my headphones out from my pocket, unfold them and slide them onto my head. With a few taps on my Scroll, music drowns out the sounds of the rioters. I feel my longcoat blowing in the night wind, the purple glow of my clothing amplified in the darkness.

Let's get this over with.


	19. Chapter 21: Incineration

Chapter Twenty-One: Incineration

Shooting and cutting people's fine for me, but something about snapping this dude's neck doesn't quite sit well with my stomach. It's probably the sounds, or the fact that he's struggling for a little too long. That's probably a sign that I didn't do it right. In the movies it's a pretty quick process, but since I'm not the strongest I had to hold him down as I slowly pushed his neck beyond it's limits of rotation as I muffled his screams with my spare hand. Yikes.

I drag the gang member's lifeless body out of the sight of the shopping centre, into a nearby alley. I strip the body of the man, take his clothes and put them on, tossing my combat gear into another tear. The red jacket's a little loose on my short and lean frame, and the pants need to be folded upwards, but I pass as an official Talon member. Not just an ordinary rioter, but one of the inner circle of the gang. Gotta say, these are actually kind of comfortable, the jacket's nice and warm. I slide the mask over my face, adjust the strap on the back of the head so it fits, the works. I got a smiling mask instead of a crying one, which I don't mind. That crying one's more than a little unnerving to me.

I keep my shoes on so I still get the benefits of the Gravity Dust. My armour is linked together through some kind of Dust relationship...thing that Borrao did. I'm pretty sure I was sick the day we covered that topic in class. Either way, the shoes glow ridiculously bright, like some kind of plasma ball without the glass surrounding it. Little bolts of gravitational Dust energy fly off of my feet when I walk, causing the rubble and loose stones around my feet to hover in the air for a second before returning to the ground. Hopefully that's not too obvious.

I make my way up to the entrance of the building. There are two mask-wearing, weapon-toting Talon members standing guard. They're wearing some kind of cyborg armour, of a similar build type to Shiin's body, however the guard's armour is much bulkier. They look like they're wielding some poly-weapons, painted red and black much like their armour. I'm not sure if it's my imagination but their weapons appear to be buzzing slightly. I guess holing the rioters up here as a kind of base of operations is a smart move, but that means some kind of security needs to be put in place to make sure outsiders don't get in.

Before I move into their line of sight, I see another Talon member walk up to them. He fumbles in his pockets for a second, then produces some kind of card. The guards inspect it for a second before giving the thumbs-up and letting him through. I pat my pockets to find that card and come up empty. I guess I must've dropped it, or maybe the member I stole the uniform from was out here looking for it. It's a possibility, but nobody's getting in that main entrance without a card.

I look up at the roof of the building, where smoke seems to be appearing from the ceiling. I could hop in that way, but that would blow my cover immediately. Gotta do it stealthily. As amazing, strong and talented as I am, I can't take all of them on by myself. Which is why I don't intend to do that. My plans are a little more devious.

Seems like taking out the guards would not only grant me entrance, it would also give me a glimpse of their level of weaponry. Plus, whatever those mace-looking things are, I want one for my personal collection. But if I attack them where they are now, that immediately blows my cover. I should probably lure them away from there.

I pull my revolver out of my holster, remove a bullet and flick it into the view of the guards. That gets the attention of one, who alerts the other. I'm not looking at them, but I can hear their heavy metal armor clank, their footsteps sounding like lead cymbals, gradually increasing in volume. Upon hearing this I retreat into another pocket dimension, content to spy on the two from here.

The two guards trudge their way into the alleyway I was hiding in, giving it a quick scan-through with their peepers. Finding nothing, the two move further away from the vision of the others, further into the alley. One of the two speaks after one minute or so of searching. Their voice is a little higher than I expected, seems like it's got a soft Manchester edge to it. It's quite a pleasant voice actually.

"Well, looks like nobody's here. Strange, I could've sworn I saw some kind of glow."

"No need to worry about that now. At least we can be alone, if only for a little while." This piques my attention, and I focus my interdimensional view on the two. On closer inspection, they both appear to be...women, it seems. Very muscular women, but definitely women. This becomes even more apparent when they drop their weapons and remove that heavy armour, their underclothes leaving fairly little to the imagination. Not that I'm complaining, I just didn't expect them to be women. Guess every gender's up for a little gang violence from time to time.

Looks like gang violence is the last thing on these two's minds, however, as their lips make contact and their eyes close. I see the one with the short, brown hair seems to be taking the lead, pushing the perky-looking blond up against a wall as she runs her hand through the other's hair. Jesus, this is good shit. Am I supposed to kill these two? Fuck that, I'm not one to break up a sign of affection as precious as this.

Well, they're out of the way of the entrance anyway, and their mind is clearly not on their work, so mission accomplished? If they weren't women their heads would be rolling on the floor instead of being in the clouds, as it seems they are right now. I'd love to stick around for longer, I really would, but they're only so much time before they finish up or that robot motherfucker shows up and ruins everything.

I portal my way to the entrance, taking care not to alert the guards that are currently removing their underclothes (this is harder for me then it is for you, not sticking around and watching this), and walk into the building. It seems like the general rioting population, those who simply want to break things for no reason, or for an undisclosed reason outside the Talon's interests, are all milling around in the entrance hall area, while certain shops are occupied by Talon members performing all kinds of activities. I see a few unmasked Talon members, presumably Faunus, dismantling all the computers in the electronics store, ripping them into different parts with little care, then separating those parts into different bins. Probably for Shiin's 'completed body', whatever he was blabbing about.

In the Dust store it seems like a few cybernetically enhanced Talon members are crushing up any crystals into powder, then packing it into little vials. One skinhead-looking fucker with a bulky robotic leg makes the mistake of attempting to snort a line of fire Dust like it's some spicy goddamn cocaine. Moments later his face turns a concerning shade of crimson, and before he has time to regret his decision his skull explodes. One side of my mask is covered with the splatters of blood and brain produced from the eruption, and I manage to dodge a large shard of skull flying at my stomach. The other Dust Talon workers simply pick up the skinhead's headless and less skin-rich body and drag it into the back room of the store, where I see the corpse of an elderly Asian-looking man with what looks like three gunshots to the chest. These people don't take prisoners.

The Talon members in the other stores just seem to be looting, helping themselves to whatever they want from the wide selection of stores available. Since I'm masked and basically identical to everyone else, I pop into the supermarket briefly to pinch the most expensive bottle of wine on offer. If I'm not mistaken it seems like gold particles have been dispersed through the wine (I note the subtle fruity undertones masked with carefully constructed oak notes, blended to create a well-rounded and full-bodied tasting experience), but I'm just drinking it to ease my nerves a little. Regardless of how amazing and talented I am (not very to be honest), I'm starting to freak out a little bit, my palms sweatier than...a sweaty thing, I don't know.

If I'm not mistaken, this place should have some kind of basement or carpark or lower level, right? I didn't have time to research the layout of this shopping centre. Either way, let's just go and ask the friendliest person I can see.

Oh wait, these guys are all gang members, aren't they. Fuck.

Don't suppose one of these lovely chaps or chapettes could help me out at all. However, I'm not one for communicating with strangers at the best of times. This situation is something else entirely, something I'm not comfortable with at all.

I pop back out the supermarket, wine bottle in hand, and just run through the signs placed around the mall. There are directions to some grotty-looking toilets, a help desk with the computer monitor at the front smashed in with a brick and some transnational companies, mostly department stores and such. No sign of a sign that could actually fucking help me. Damn it.

I hear a vague *ding* off in the distance, accompanied by a sudden rush of footsteps. Turning my attention to both noises, I notice that both sounds are coming from the area of a recently arriving elevator. It seems pretty roomy, pretty spacious, which suggests that it's used for moving stock to and from the separate floors of the centre. I guess this is my ticket to the underneath.

As I step into the elevator and slap that carpark button, two burly-looking gang members step in with me, pressing the ground floor button and leaning against the walls. Both look like their shirts are set to rip from the sheer bulk their muscles possess. They're like bald, young Senator Armstrongs, only without the crazy Americanism and nanomachines. Son (I love anyone who gets that reference - Ben).

After a break of silence, one of the burly men look over at me, their gold frowning mask making me feel a deep stir in my stomach. Urgh, that's creepy. He breaks the silence, speaking with an uncomfortably thick Texan accent, unfortunately only muffled slightly by that fucking mask.

"If I may ask, Sir, why are you going to the carpark?" Ohh, I was wondering what these masks meant. Okay, I'm pretty sure the different colours of masks represent what rank you are in the group. Seems like the bronze masks are under the silver masks, which are under the gold masks. As for me, considering everyone stays out of my way, treats me respectfully, refers to me as Sir, etc., and I have a black mask, I guess I'm in a pretty senior position. Suppose I can lie or withhold information then, if I'm senior.

"Oh, just checking out the area. I detected a breach down here, so could you guys help me out here?"

"No problem sir. We're some of the strongest members, we can guarantee you'll be well-protected. Then again, I doubt you'll need it, being the Third Talon and all."

Wait, what? Is there some kind of ranking system _in_ the ranks? Are you kidding me? Jeez, these guys are uncomfortably well-organised. Well I'm guessing that there are four 'Talons' (birds typically only have four fingers on each claw. Hey, birds are cool, this stuff's interesting to me), but maybe there are five because there are always either three or five obstacles you need to take down. Either way, these guys might actually be able to help me out.

When we hit the ground floor, the two guards step out in front of me, their weapons extended. As for me, I don't know what kind of weapon the Third Talon uses, he didn't have one on him when I cracked his neck and stole his clothes. I just get into a fighting stance, crack my knuckles and all that.

"Alright gentlemen, search the carpark to ensure there are no intruders. I'll begin setting something up to help us eliminate any threats down here without having to move too much manpower." The guards salute and take off in different directions. Once they're out of sight, I create a sneaky little portal, out of which I take Wildfire.

Now, let me explain. Ever since I got here I've been drinking energy drinks, and I've been keeping all the resealable cans I can, filling them up with both burn Dust (the red stuff that makes fire happen), eruption Dust (the orange stuff that makes boom-boom happen) and gunpowder (yep, regular old boring gunpowder. It's cheaper than Dust, what can I say?). From some of the parts salvaged from the destroyed robots, along with a little ingenuity and help from the girls, who know a little about engineering from making their own weapons, we managed to create two series of highly potent explosives, each a little different than the other.

I pull out the chains of explosive cans, attached by wiring, chips strapped to the cans, LEDs blinking and flashing different colours (simply for tha C). I begin to attach the chain to the roof of the carpark, but it's a struggle due to my height. And it's a terrible idea to use my Semblance, because if the Third Talon's semblance isn't portal-related I'm going to have to fight these guys two-on-one, then an alarm gets raised and then I'm proper fucked. Hmm…

"Hey, guys! Get over here, I need your help with something!"

Seems these guys have working earlobes and aren't fucking out of my line of sight like the two guards at the front because they emerge from different areas and walk towards me, re-holstering their weapons. "Yeah, boss?"

"Attach these things to the roof. Spread them out too, make sure they cover as much area as possible. These'll help us detect any intruders and take them out without coming back down here." Each guard dutifully takes a reel and begins attaching them to the roof, while I check the wiring for issues and smoke a little. It takes around ten minutes, but they do a fine job of it.

"Thanks, guys. I'll just give this a little...test drive."

I open up a portal behind me, causing the two guards to drop their jaws in awe. At least, I think their jaws are dropped, it's difficult to tell behind their masks. As for me, I rip my mask off and throw it at their feet, a massive (fake) grin stretched across my face. They're successfully intimidated, the pasty one definitely shat himself just there.

"You guys fucked up, but since you helped me so much I'm willing to spare your lives. Don't alert anyone," I snap as I see one reach for their intercom, "or I'm leaving you here to die. And that would be bad, wouldn't it? Now," I say, stepping backwards into my portal, "come with me if you want to live."

I emerge back on the roof that I started on, where me and Eadie were just talking about hentai. The two guards appear out of the tear shortly after, delirious by the looks of it. I could easily take them out right now, but I don't want to kill too many people. Those people, as sick as it makes me sound, need to die to ensure the safety of Vale. It's a worthwhile sacrifice, but sparing two won't change anything.

"OK, boys, stand back and watch the fucking fireworks!" I grab the two by their hair, forcing them to look in the direction of the shopping centre, before groping around on the floor for the button I installed, connected over a long distance to Wildfire. Finding it, I crack my knuckles, stretch my fingers and slam my hand down on that button like it's a misbehaving child.

For a second nothing happens, and I worry that the wiring was faulty, until I notice a little glow beginning on the lowest floor. It persists for a while, a few seconds of warm orange glow, before simmering back down.

The building seems to expand drastically before exploding outwards, chunks of plaster and metal hurtling at all directions as columns of flame burst skywards. I didn't stick around to hear the sound as I'm pretty sure I'd be rendered permanently deaf, my head's stuck in another dimension, but I'm damn glad I didn't have to hear it. As soon as I can I pull out (hah) and begin to run, roof to roof, towards Smoky Correctional Facility, feeling the impact of the hard concrete under my feet and the weightlessness of my little body hurtling through the cool night air.

My phone rings and I debate sending it to the endless abyss of my voicemail, where it can fester along with the others, but I don't have an contacts who'd be calling me other than both teams. Landing on a skyscraper, at the base of the spike striking upwards into the air, I pull out my Scroll and answer. "Yep?"

The reception is poor and the audio quality is garbage but I can just about make out Eadie's words. He seems to be panting heavily and I hear yells and grunts of exertion in the background, along with gunshots and clashing weapons.

"BRO, YOU GOTTA HELP US. THEY'VE TAKEN THE TE-"

He hangs up. Fuck.

This isn't for shits and giggles anymore.

. . . . .

Author's Note: Shit's getting real.


	20. Chapter 22: Hostage

Chapter Twenty-Two: Hostage

The front door's going to be guarded by henchmen, I'm betting, so I summon Lefty out of a tear and have him carry me up to the roof. It'd be a bad idea to rush into things without knowing what I'm up against. I made arrangements to make sure that on the off chance this happened, there was a way to do it that didn't necessitate blowing my cover, so to speak.

With desperate hands I clasp at the latches of the roof window. I swear I left it unlocked, didn't I? Either way, I also prepared for this. Doma flies out of a portal I placed on the opposite side of the glass, and after a little meddling (with the size of it's fingers it's incredible it could even grasp around the latch) the window is opened and I slip inside in relative silence.

I'm in that room with all the hentai, but this doesn't seem like the time to review any special-interest gentlemen's periodicals as much as I'd like to. I've got to see what's happening to the team.

This room was meant to be some kind of observation centre, or maybe the control centre of the prison? I don't know, but what I do know is that the glass is made in a certain way so that people from one side can see clearly through it, while those on the outside of the room only see grey, oblique panes. Well, it's an observation room, innit? Let's observe.

Both teams are here if I'm not mistaken, RWBY and JNPR, and they all seem to just be standing there, not doing much of anything. Looks like there are two moving figures in there though. One's simply pacing around the room, their metal body gleaming in the sunlight, vein-like lines pulsing and glowing red. Looks like I found Shiin.

The other figure is in significantly worse kit by the looks of it. They're marked up, cuts and bruises everywhere, and it looks like they're having trouble standing up. It's Eadie, crap. They aren't fighting right now, but why isn't anyone helping him?

Through the intercom I can make out the conversation the two seem to be having. Shiin turns away from Eadie and seems to stretch their arms a little. "So impertinent. About what I'd expect of a child like yourself."

"Fuck off. If anyone's acting childish it's you, mocking me for no reason." Eadie sounds more pissed off than ever, and it looks like wit one more pair of eyes turned onto him, he's found the strength to stand. It looks like he's barely holding it together.

"I have a reason to act the way I do, you surely realise. People don't act in ways opposing the norm of what is 'good' for no reason. You want to know why I'm like this? Why my body's metal?" Eadie doesn't look like he could care less, and just wants to punch straight through him, but I think he realises that this is the perfect opportunity to stall for me to move into action. Frankly I'm not interested either but it could give me some valuable insight into what we're up against.

As I lean in to hear more clearly, I feel a gunshot in my right side, causing me to stumble left, clutching my injury. As I turn around, opening up a tear, I realise who hit me.

Ruby. She stares at me with a blank expression, her eyes glazed over like she's looking through me, not at me. Morphing her weapon into scythe formation, she swings upwards. Luckily I manage to avoid the bladed part of the scythe, but I've backed myself into the wall so there's nowhere left to dodge. Using her momentum from the first failed swing, Ruby fires off a gunshot, aimed in a way to add even more momentum to the swing. Circling the scythe around her back, she slams me right in the chest with the blunt side of the weapon, sending me flying through the pane of glass into the hall with everyone else. Eadie and Shiin look at me, Shiin with amusement and Eadie with desperation.

"Well, I suppose that'll have to wait until later. For now, we have a visitor. Lovely of you to stop by, Mr Comet Crusader."

Jumping back on my feet, I draw out my revolver and aim it right between Shiin's eyes, tears at the ready all around the room. Not taking my eyes off the robot, I address Eadie. "WHAT HAS THAT FUCKER TAKEN?"

"The teams, they've taken over the teams. They were trying to kill me! Even...even Blake." Shiin's one natural eye lights up at this.

"Ah, I see you're unfamiliar with my Semblance. It's nothing flashy, but it's quite helpful in my situation." Shiin paces towards us and I step back, ensuring that he keeps his distance. "I can link technology with humans. This is how I'm able to use my body with such ease, and how I've managed to possess your friends. Right now I've linked them to a little control center in my body, so they're fighting machines, fighting for me." I feel myself trembling with a bad feeling or two, anger being the main one. Shiin strolls around team RWBY, stopping in front of Yang. "They're all mine, they'll do anything I ask of them. Come on Yang, let's show him." Yang turns to Shiin and walks to him, her expression still blank. She gets to Shiin and locks lips with them, closing her glazed-over eyes and pushing against Shiin's metallic body. Shiin's hand strays a little too far downwards for my liking, grabbing Yang's bottom with greedy delight in his one natural eye.

It's not up to Yang, she's being controlled. This isn't her, I try telling myself. But it's no use, it feels like I've been impaled through the chest. I feel my breathing getting shallower and the entirety of my being shaking and trembling with more rage than I've ever experienced in my entire life. It feels like my mind's being ripped apart with pins as the two separate, a thin strand of saliva left connecting their lips until Shiin lets go of her and moves away.

"GIVE ME MY FUCKING FRIENDS BACK! I'LL RIP YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB FROM LIMB YOU FUCKER! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" My mind's getting foggy and clouded over, my knuckles white from clenching my fists in anger. My revolver's going to be useless against his armour, if high-caliber bullets did nothing this little thing's going to do nothing for me.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening, but I think it's only fair to give you another little demonstration." With those words, the team's eyes all lock on to me, their expressions fully blank. It seems Shiin's organised the groups into their teams, with team RWBY on my right side and team JNPR on my left. I see Eadie hobble towards me, pain in his eyes.

"We have to get out of here, man. I can't fight like this." I see that even standing still appears to take up all his energy. I don't even take a second to consider, opening up a portal to a healing room I was lucky enough to dream about. It's not instantaneous but he should be fighting fit in a few minutes, provided he has no broken or fractured bones. I can hold off until then.

"Get in there. I'll open it back up when I need you." Eadie doesn't hesitate at all, jumping into the portal without a second thought, and I close it as soon as possible to ensure only he gets in there.

"Well, that's a shame, Com. You're all alone now. What a way to go, slaughtered in an abandoned prison by your friends."

"I'm not dying, Shiin. Not to you." I say through gritted teeth. The one advantage to feeling like this is the extra power it lends my Semblance. But it doesn't do my mental state much good, as I feel like I'm one second away from snapping entirely. "Fight me like a man, you coward. Oh, hiding behind burly gang members didn't work, so you hide behind schoolgirls instead? Looks like you're even more of a pussy-whipped bitch than I thought."

"Your taunts mean nothing. I have nothing to prove to you or your dead corpse. Let's see the latter, how about that?"

Weiss lunges at my jugular, Myrtenaster at the ready. I fall on my back so she passes over me and kick upwards with both legs, winding her and sending her back to where she started. Taking this opportunity, I scramble to my feet, run up to the recovering Weiss, and punch her as hard as I can across the face. I hate doing that to her, as much of a cunt as she can be, but luckily she offers little resistance. One uppercut to the jaw later and I think she's out cold.

Strange, it normally would take much more than that to knock her Aura in the red. She didn't use her Aura either, which is bizarre. Before I have the time to figure out what this means, I feel a punch in my back, knocking me upwards, followed by a hand grasping the back of my head and slamming it against the concrete floor. Luckily I turn my head just enough so that I don't break my nose, with most of the impact being absorbed by the side of my head. I can't tell who it is but considering the force behind that punch, my money's on Yang.

Doma slaps my assailant off my back, and I hear the impact of flesh slamming into solid concrete walling. Seems like it is Yang, judging by the clump of yellow hair that Doma's holding now.

Normally I'd be piss-scared that I ripped out Yang's hair, as she'd go Super Saiyan on my ass, but she's under Shiin's influence, or rather the influence of Shiin's technology, so I don't think she's thinking much about that. Maybe that's why none of the teams seem to use their Auras or Semblances.

Looking over at the direction of the sound, it turns out I didn't hit Yang, but Jaune. Damn, his punch hurt more than I'd think it would. Either way, one solid rage-filled slap by a massive fuck-off hand puts him out of action for now. If I didn't have my Semblance and Aura, or they all had theirs, I'd be deader than dead right now.

I wonder why Eadie wasn't affected by Shiin's Semblance, I think as I dodge one of Nora's hammer swings, sweep her legs out from underneath her and stomp on her face repeatedly, staining the underside of my shoes in a vivid red from her broken nose. Probably because he's from our world. Physical Semblances affect us, I'm fairly sure, but perhaps Semblances that deal with the brain or the soul are different. I'm thinking this as I grab Nora's unconscious body and hold it in front of Ren, who unloads without mercy. Jesus, I didn't think he'd do that, and since I care about everyone here minus that cyborg, I can't exactly use a meat shield at the risk of one of my friends dying. Seems like Ren's not much of a crack shot either way, so evading his bullets from afar isn't too difficult surprisingly. Creating a portal to another dimension, I toss Nora's unconscious and brutalised body in there to ensure no other harm comes to her. What the fuck am I doing, beating up my friends? Not like I have another choice, apart from attacking Shiin straight up to try and disable that computer he's linked their minds to. Even then, I haven't spotted a potential weak point in his armour.

I need to open his defences up to allow for a proper attack, I notice. Maybe then I could actually have a chance at turning this fight around. I bolt towards him, ignoring Ren and Pyrrha pursuing me, and head straight for him. Before I can make it too far, however, I feel my left leg start to behave in strange ways, like not supporting my weight, giving in and causing me to fall on the cold floor, bleeding profusely and causing me quite a bit of pain. Seems I've been shot again, in half of my movement department as well, by Ruby once more no doubt.

My suspicions are confirmed once Ruby's scythe appears just at the edges of my field of vision, and in my vain attempt to drag myself out of it, the blade embeds itself (quite forcefully I might add) into my injured leg. The 'schluck' sound it makes is quite sickening, and that in combination with the intense pain cause me to dry heave and splutter. With a single gunshot out the top of the scythe, Ruby's blade is dragged through the rest of my leg, severing it lengthways down to the bone. Now my leg looks like a reverse hotdog with the flesh on the outside, you may think this is the point where I would maybe pass out or die of blood loss, but no. That part won't come until later, I'm pretty sure.

I grit my teeth to prevent screaming, although sounds of anguish still escape my lips, and punch Ruby straight in the face. With my leg severed but free, I push her down to the ground and proceed to come _this_ close to crushing her throat in between my fingers (unintentionally, I know it wasn't her fault), throwing her away from me. She goes limp when her head hits the wall of the prison, I notice.

My massive gaping leg wound's losing blood faster than CNN's losing credibility, soaking my combat trousers and preventing proper walking, but I've got a crude-but-effective solution. My Aura probably won't fix this without a little help from outside sources, so, grunting and sweating from exertion, I push both sides of my wound together, leaving only one millimetre or so of space between the sides, then I create two double-sided portals, one side of each portal linking to the other. With great pain I take the first and force it onto one half of the wound, manipulating it so that it fits the shape of my leg well enough. The same goes for the second, until the blood flow has begun anew through my portals. As for nerve endings and, you know, keeping the wound together, I link the other ends of the tears to different magnetic dimensions, one to North and one to South. Both sides of my gash wound now slam together. Given my oddly-fashioned injury recovery method, it seems successful enough. I can run on it fine, although it's still immensely painful.

With shaky legs I get to my feet, only to be hit in the back of the head by Pyrrha's shield, thrown from a long distance. Luckily it's the curved part that hits me, not the sharp part of the edge. I don't stall, I grab that shield and attach it to my arm, and keep running.

I'm in range of Shiin, guarded by Weiss, Blake and Yang. Shiin seems to be debating using them to fight me, but before they signal the team Shiin raises their hand, their palm glowing with the same red energy pulsing through their cybernetic veins. I expected this, and it's what I was hoping to happen. I'm incredibly low on Aura, so one shot from his arm cannon's going to smear my brains across the prison hall walls if it hits me straight. I can see Shiin charging up the other hand behind their back as well, judging by the red glow reflected off of their body, so I'm starting to get an idea of how this will play out. Let's hope it works out.

The beam of energy arcs from Shiin's right hand, and I lift Pyrrha's shield in response. I was barely fast enough, but sure enough the energy strikes the shield and arcs off of it in different directions. Seems like it's electric, but I prevented any shock by wrapping the shield's handle in the sleeve of my insulative longcoat. Shiin's going to fire that other hand shortly after while he thinks I'm distracted, I can tell. But I'm ready for him.

Just as the energy leaves Shiin's palm I create a tear in front of the beam's arc, intercepting it before it strikes me. All that's left is creating another linked tear behind that cyborg fucker aaaaaand…

Shiin's beam strikes them in the metallic shoulder, and I can see the electricity spread throughout their cybernetic body, seizures and sparks included, no terms and conditions apply. Hopefully that's enough to move our teammates out of their possessed states. Sure enough, it looks like the members of the teams are slowly coming to, their eyes focusing. Those without rub their heads as if recovering from one of my smoker's migraines, and those with clutch them in pain as if having no idea how they got there. I feel everyone's Aura's stutter back to life, but I can't focus on them right now. Changing the tear's link location to another dimension, I see a glint reflect out of it, bouncing the light of Shiin's electric spasms in little spots on the roof.

A moment later, Eadie leaps out of the tear, sword drawn, shield on his back. He falls fast in a downward arc, headed for Shiin. I see he's holding his sword in both hands, in an icepick grip to be precise. At the last moment before landing, he brings his blade own with all the force he can muster, piercing the fleshy point of Shiin's body just above the heart. That strange white blood spurts and gushes from the deep wound as Eadie yanks his sword out of the body of Shiin. I see their mouth moving as if attempting to scream, but it seems like they never programmed that sound into their speech synthesiser. Guess they never though they'd actually ever use it.

After a few seconds of empty screams, I hear the speech synthesiser start making gargled, tortured sounds that sound like many warped pitches all layered on top of each other. This cuts in and out, and in the points where it isn't present, I think I can hear Shiin's real voice. It's torn and warped, but it's distinctly feminine. Shit, I guess getting an entirely new body meant she did away with any semblance of femininity. Maybe for the intimidation factor, maybe for anonymity. Either way, it'll make the author's job a lot easier.

I turn my attention away from Shiin's body, stumbling towards the girls. My Aura's running low, the use of my Semblance to keep me alive really puts a halt on my regeneration factor. I feel a little dazed, a little lightheaded, but I can shrug it off, it's no big deal.

Ruby's still on the floor, but she's conscious at least. It was a clever idea to pit us against each other, that way I had to limit myself in terms of what I could do. I extend my hand to Ruby, and she looks at me, then at my leg. It's holding together well, but it looks ghastly, blood and flesh clearly visible in and around the barely sealed wound.

"Oh my god, Com, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm..." Ruby's obviously distraught at the damage she unintentionally caused me, I can see the tears trickling down her face. I respond by mustering as big a smile as I can and extending my hand towards her. She lifts her head to meet my gaze, and takes my hand. I pull her up, although it takes a little more effort than it did eight or so months back, and she hugs me as hard as she can. As I'm locked in her embrace I notice my Aura returning to me, slowly but surely, until my pool of Aura's fully restored. No luck with that torn leg though, it's still very much fucked.  
When Ruby eventually lets go of me, I'm nearly knocked to the ground by Yang, who throws herself into my arms. This is the point where I realise the shit I've been through, and the adrenaline is starting to wear off now that my Aura's coming back, and I allow myself to cry, sobbing into her shoulder. Everyone's back, everyone's fine.

Oh shit, Nora. I summon a tear behind me, while still in Yang's arms, and sure enough Nora stumbles out of it, dazed but otherwise fine.

When me and Yang finally separate, I address everyone in the room. "We need to get out of here, fast. I need to get this thing treated, after all, and it's time to ensure that this bastard's dead." Everyone nods in agreement, and we all walk out of that prison halls together.

This seems like too perfect of a way to finish this fight. I wasn't expecting this, but I'm all for a twist ending.

. . . . .

Author's Note: It's not over yet. Next chapter is out soon.


	21. Chapter 23: Apex

Chapter Twenty-Three: Apex

Walking far away enough to ensure we're out of the blast radius is tough on my ripped-up leg, but it's possible. Everyone's shaken up, having killed the leader of a gang that was on the course of becoming an even bigger threat than the White Fang, and that reaction's about expected. So we're just walking for now. Not sure what I'm going to do about this leg, but I guess it can wait until later. As long as I maintain that tear linking my leg's blood supply together, I won't die.

We're silent for the most part as we flee the premises, other than the occasional sniffle from one of the more torn-up members of our teams or the gasps of pain I produce when I step on a point that disturbs the position of my leg. I'm pretty sure this is because none of us know the right thing to say. I sure don't, I feel this is a moment that words might spoil.

We're not leaving the prison quite yet, just moving away from the hall area as to not get caught in the blast. This way we can ensure that fucker's dead. Eadie set Firecracker up underneath that hall, and I know it blasts upwards, not outwards, so we can stay in the prison and check to see if Shiin's body is melting or ripped to shreds. If not, we're chucking her right in the biggest fire possible.

This annihilation of the prison hall also lets us cover up the fight that occurred here. Those who agree with whatever Shiin stood for might flock to support him if the fight was made public, not to mention the fear that would spread to the masses. Eliminating any evidence of what occurred seems like the best option to ensure peace remains the status quo.

Plus, I like blowing things up. Is that so wrong?

We're in Hallway D right now, separated from the hall by a few rows of prison cells. I turn to my friends, all looking a bit nervous (quite understandable in all honesty).

"This should be far enough, I think. Before I press the button, does anyone want to say anything? Like a funeral speech for Shiin? I don't know, anything?"

Everyone's silent for a few seconds, until Weiss raises her hand. "I just want to say that we've done something important here. This was a woman fighting for a cause we know nothing about. We don't know what could've happened if we stood back and did nothing. Never forget this." Everyone cheers at Weiss' little speech.

"Alright, are we ready to blow this popsicle stand? Three..." My finger hovers over the button that triggers the explosion. "Two..." I brush my finger lightly over that button, teasing the possibility of fiery demise. "On-"

I'm slammed into by what I believe to be a metal claw, driving me up against the wall. One of the fingers of the claw moves back and positions itself over my throat, then plunges forward. I place a tear shield in the way of that talon and it harmlessly bounces off it. My jugular is safe, but I'm dazed from the attack. What's going on now?

Doma grabs the claw and crushes it by tightening its grip. Being free now, I fall to the floor and begin running back to the hall. What the hell has happened? I thought we killed that bastard. Judging by the sounds of footsteps behind me, I can only assume the rest of the teams are following me as well.

I enter the hall, or what's left of it. Strange, I don't remember blowing it up quite yet but there's plenty of damage to the infrastructure. Seems like the claw came from a mass of wiring and computer parts that's suddenly appeared in the middle of the hall. The ceiling above it has caved in, and if my eyes aren't deceiving me I believe I can see three drones, seemingly unmanned, flying away from the scene. Fuck.

The mass of wiring and computer parts seems to stir, and the many LEDs on it's body spring to life. I hear a whirring coming from the core of that mess, and out of nowhere a stuttery, robotic voice once again pierces the heavens.

"YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME, DID YOU?"

The wires of the creature's body shift away, revealing a round inner core that the wires and computers have hid. On it there's one screen, showing some kind of audio visualiser technology.

"I AM NO LONGER A PERSON. I HAVE TRANSCENDED MORTALITY. MY CONSCIENCE NOW LIVES ON IN MY CREATIONS. THIS IS MY STRONGEST FORM. MY FINAL FORM. MY MAINFRAME. AND IT WAS BUILT TO BE INDESTRUCTIBLE." The wires fold back over the core and lash out at us. "YOU MAY HAVE KILLED THE FIRST, BUT YOU CAN NEVER KILL THE LAST."

These wires aren't boding well for any of our Semblances, other than maybe Pyrrhas. Not many of us have crowd-control-focused Semblances, so eliminating all these bastards is going to be tricky.

I remember the button in my hand, the one that sets off Firecracker. That might not destroy the core, but it could probably destroy some of the wires that help it to move and attack.

The creature's not in the right position right now, it's moved far away from the perfect blast area and is currently advancing towards us and away from it. We need to push it back to ensure that we can incinerate and annihilate as much as possible. I turn to Pyrrha, yelling at her.

"MOVE THE WIRES!"

She seems to understand, nodding her head. Dropping her spear and shield, I see her close her eyes, focusing intensely. It seems like she's doing whatever she can to maximise the effectiveness of her Semblance against as many targets as possible. I look at Yang, trying to communicate as much as I can through eye contact. She cracks her knuckles, her eyes beginning to change colour and her hair starting to light up.

With one gesture, Pyrrha releases a massive blast of Polarity, causing all the wires to be pushed outwards, exposing the core for just a moment. Yang runs up to said exposed core, Ember Celica in battle formation, and punches that thing as hard as possible. I see the core roll back a metre or so before the wires latch into the ground, anchoring it in position. This is going to be tougher than we thought.

Pyrrha keeps channeling all of her Aura into pushing the creature back. It's slow but it's working, however I'm not so sure if she has the Aura to push it back the whole way.

I feel the anger building up in me once again. I should've known better than to assume that the enemy would only die once! That's never how it works! FUCK!

The idea of analysing the situation and formulating a plan briefly enters my mind, but it's quickly replaced by the urge to rip and tear away mindlessly until there's nothing left of that bastard. Rip and tear and rip and tEar and rip and tear aNd rip and tEar and rIp anD tear And riP ANd tEar aNd RIp anD tEAr AND rIP AnD TEAr ANd RIP AND TEAR

Somewhere in the rational part of my mind I sense everyone in my team taking a collective step away from me. I'm not sure why, but I know that those with their Auras activated can sense the Auras of others. This Aura filling me seems a little different. This was the way I summoned the meteor, but this feels much stranger, like rage and desperation swirling inside me, pushing out any fear.

I summon a single portal above my head, then doing something I've never done before, shatter it into tens of pieces. These pieces morph onto my skin, melding into the shape and structure of my body, covering it in it's entirety. I draw back my fist, and I feel something from a dream dimension stirring, then roaring to life. As I force my fist forwards in a punch, I feel the tear armour around myself dig into that dream dimension, bringing that energy to the surface of this world. My hand surges with energy not seen in Earth or Remnant ever before. It's literally pure energy from my wildest dreams.

My fist connects with the core, and the shockwave produced from the punch causes gushes of wind to rush forward from the punch, blowing the cables out of the way. The shockwave's impact shatters my glass eye inside of it's socket, but I'm not feeling that pain right now. While my punch doesn't make a dent of any kind to the core, I see the robot rock back a few metres, and the high-pitched squeal it's been emitting ever since combat started turns into a low growl accompanied by static. I hear Shiin's voice once again, louder than before.

"THEY REJECTED ME, THEY ALL DID! PUSHED ME AWAY, BEAT ME! YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT THEN THEM! I CAN'T LOSE AGAINST YOU, I REFUSE!" Tendrils lash out at me, but none connect to my flesh. As they strike the tear armour, they disappear into a separate dimension. When the creature removes them, there's nothing there, they've been disintegrated entirely. Raising my foot, I stomp the ground as hard as possible, causing the ground beneath our feet to tremble and quake. I see the tendrils keeping the robot rooted in the unstable ground start to snap or recoil. One punch later and the robot's knocked in the air. Bending my knees, I jump, hurtling towards the core, and kick the panel attached to the core, shattering it and causing the core to dent inwards. Bringing both fists in the air, I spike that robot bastard down, leaving an even larger dent in the chassis. The monstrous creation hurtles to the floor, hitting the old Shiin's corpse and crushing it entirely. I think I dropped that remote that triggered the explosives when I took on the robot, so I just pray that someone presses it before Shiin's new form can recover.

"NOW!" I scream at the top of my lungs, the sound seemingly amplified by the tear armour. Out of the corner of my one good eye I see Blake run towards the button. As she nears it wires lash out at her, attempting to stop her from pressing it. These wires are severed with one swing upwards from Ruby's scythe, at the last minute. Blake picks up the button and slams her fist down as hard as possible.

In that moment many thoughts come to mind, the main one being that we might've defeated the 'first phase' as it were. Other thoughts also come to mind that deserve some consideration, like the fact that I'm in the blast radius of Firecracker, I'm falling to the ground at a relatively high speed and I feel the tear armour begin to fade away. Hmm.

I see part of the ground begin to split open as I fall downwards, then everything goes white.

. . . . .

When my eyes regain focus and my ears stop ringing, I lift my head to confirm that I'm still alive (barely). Seems like Firecracker went off alright, but we might've overdone it. The entirety of the prison's been damaged to some extent, with the hall being completely annihilated and most of the surrounding area being levelled by the blast.

A few small flames litter what used to be the prison, but they're nothing serious. Seems like everyone's fine as well, as I do a quick headcount of the teams as they struggle to stand. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and me. Lovely, good to see that.

Considering the lack of massive fuck-off wires trying to strangle me, I'd say our plan worked fairly well. I still can't quite see the core though…

Ah, there it is! It's a little further away from the hall, in a fully levelled area of the prison. All that's left of the wires surrounding the core are a few burnt stubs still attached to certain parts. I get up slowly as not to strain myself, hobbling towards that monster's heart so I can finish it off.

Out of the corner of my one working eye, I see Eadie, Ruby and Yang walking in the same direction on my left. Eadie seems fine, as do the girls, but they weren't caught in the heart of the blast were they? I can only assume everyone's on the right where my eye is gone and my glass eye's been shattered and is digging into my flesh.

We all stand around the core, wondering what to do. It's clearly very strong, even at my most powerful I could only make a dent or two in it. While we're thinking about this, I hear Shiin's voice once again resonate from what's remaining of her strongest creation, garbled and distorted but still understandable.

"YOU WON. I NO LONGER HAVE ANY WAY TO ATTACK YOU. I SUPPOSE YOU'VE DEFEATED ME, BUT ALL I HAVE TO DO IS UPLOAD MY CONSCIENCE INTO ANOTHER ONE OF MY BODIES AND RESUME MY PLANS. THIS BODY WILL EXPLODE AFTERWARDS, KILLING ALL OF YOU. UPLOAD COMMENCING. GOODBYE." At this LEDs that I hadn't noticed before begin to pulse blue and white, and we realise the gravity of the situation.

"There's no way we can break into that robot. Even at Com's strongest he couldn't do it." I hear Jaune dejectedly sigh. "We've lost in the end."

In this moment there are one of two responses from those around me. One one hand a minority have given up, and are standing there' shellshocked. The majority, on the other hand, are attacking the core with everything they have. Shells ricochet off the exterior, slashes and strikes bounce off harmlessly. Me and Eadie are thinking furiously about how to defeat it, as a new, robotic voice counts down.

"TIME REMAINING UNTIL UPLOAD: 60 SECONDS."

Hold on, I've got it.

This is crazy, but it just might work. I can't do it myself, I can't bring forward the strength I did in the first phase, but I can do something else. Maybe I can grant others strength.

"Everyone, move away from Shiin. Now!" The teams look at me, confused as to why I would suggest this, but all oblige, clearing some space between me, Eadie and the core. Now it's time.

With every ounce of strength and Aura left in my body, I create as many portals facing Eadie as possible, each linking to another portal around Vale. Granted I can only place them in places I know about, but that should be plenty.

Portals appear over Beacon, in the city, in the suburbs, bigger than the billboards advertising in the very heart of Vale.

"TIME REMAINING UNTIL UPLOAD: 30 SECONDS."

I can already tell the amount of portals isn't enough, but it's so close to enough. Just a few more well-placed ones and we can do this. I already know what I have to do.

In a split second, the portals holding my leg together disappear. Keeping them up and keeping them in the right shape was a drain on my Aura, and with that little amount left, I place those last few tears in front of as many eyes as possible. I feel my leg start to bleed heavily by this point, soaking the ground beneath me, but I can't give up now.

"TIME REMAINING UNTIL UPLOAD: 10 SECONDS."

"GO, EADIE!"

With the nation's eyes all trained on him, Eadie runs forward at a superhuman speed. His sword was flung far away in the explosion, so he brings his fist back. I don't think he needs it, his Semblance is more powerful right now than mine could ever be by itself. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like Eadie's hand is almost glowing, his Aura overwhelmingly large by this point.

Eadie yells with all his might, and with one explosive movement, rips straight through the core with his bare hand. The force of the movement causes what I think to be a shockwave in the isolated inside of the core. Maybe it's incidental, maybe it's on purpose, but it happened. The sound produced is deafening, wind buffeting outwards. It feels like a scene from an anime or something. I see the core's shell start to crack gradually, like a hatching egg, before shattering, revealing the completely destroyed interior technology lying in a wrecked heap on the floor. The synthesiser's voice whirrs to life one last time, the most destroyed I've ever heard it.

"UP...LOAD...CANCELLED...INDEFINITELY...INTERNAL DAMAGE...TOO GREAT...SHUT...DOWN...COMMENCED..." The last words are too covered by static to hear properly but in that moment, we know Shiin's gone for good this time. Everyone's going to live, I think, as I face everyone and laugh in relief.

Well, maybe not everyone. I don't feel too good. I used up all my Aura creating those portals, so I can't put my leg back together another time. Looking down at my feet, the smile wiped from my face, I realise I must've lost a dangerous amount of blood already. Ah, shit.

Now the adrenaline's worn off, I find myself unable to stand properly, as I fall on my back. In that one moment, I can tell I'm going to die. I guess I should've seen that coming.

My already damaged vision clouds over, becoming misty and unfocused. I can only see a few splotches of colour, like a messy watercolour painting. I bit of yellow here, some red there, a touch of white and black, a tad of green and purple, some pink and orange. Jesus, this painter should've showed more constraint.

The voices that I can hear sound like we're underwater, but I'm pretty sure they're muttering words of encouragement for some reason. Eh, they don't need to worry, I'm feeling alright for a dying man.


	22. Chapter 24: Wanderer

Chapter Twenty-Four: Wanderer

Everything looks blurry. That's all I can really think right now.

I feel blurry, for that matter.

All fuzzy, all over.

I don't really like this. It feels wrong.

Well I am bleeding out, and pretty rapidly at that.

I'm not sure what I was expecting.

An after-corpsing party? I wish.

No cake here.

Feeling a little more than fuzzy now.

Aw shit, I'm dying aren't I?

This is what it feels like? Laaaame.

I was expecting something a little more dramatic.

Not like I'm complaining, it could hurt more that's for sure.

Either way, no point complaining, hey?

I did some cool things while I was alive.

Worth it?

Worth it.

This fading kind of feeling isn't nice. Not at all.

More foreboding than painful or sickening.

Close your eyes, me. We're going on a journey.

Who knows where? It's about the journey, I suppose. Final destinations aren't my thing.

. . . . .

I was stuck in my dreams on Earth.

I used my dreams in Remnant.

I guess I live in dreams when I'm dead.

No better way to die.


	23. Chapter 25: Falling

Chapter Twenty-Five: Falling

"Com? Com, hang in there buddy, c'mon, please..."

He isn't moving, he's completely still. Holding my hand above his mouth, I can't feel any breath. Putting my fingers to his neck, I feel nothing but an empty stillness.

Slowly I get to my feet and stagger away from Com's lifeless body, my clothes soaked in his still-warm blood. No, no no no, this isn't right. This doesn't happen, this can't happen. Com was a hero, he was my friend, he didn't deserve to die like this.

Silence looms over the scene, save for the crackling of the small flames scattered around what once was the prison. It occurs to me in the back of my mind that all that hentai Com kept a hold of went up in flames along with the prison. I wonder if that's how he wanted it to go, eliminate the evidence. Maybe he would've left it to me in his will? I don't know, my mind isn't and shouldn't be focused on that.

The silence is broken by the sound of someone retching behind me. I don't turn around to investigate who, it doesn't matter. I know he's dead so I can't think of any reason to call an ambulance, but I think that's standard operating procedure regardless.

I slowly reach into my pocket and pull out my Scroll, my thumb hovering over the emergency number, but I feel a hand on my shoulder before I do. Turning around, it's Weiss. She looks as torn up as the rest of us, but she seems to have something to say.

"Should we get the police involved? Is it the right thing to do?"

"I don't know, Weiss. What else do we do? This isn't just going to vanish, out of sight out of mind. That's basically the only choice we have."

I hand my Scroll to Weiss and let her make the call. I'm not feeling up to it right now. I wonder what Com would make of all this. I don't think he'd want us to mourn or be that upset in all honesty. He'd probably say something like "Bro, stop being such a pussy. Come on man, I'm dead, you're alive, stop looking like you've seen a ghost."

Standing above Com's body now, his voice seems ever clearer to me. No way it's actually him, but I've known him for so long I can tell what his ghost would say. I can imagine him floating over his corpse, in his old Reservoir Dogs t-shirt and grey tracksuit pants, lighting a final cigarette, his ghost evaporating and fading, turning into mist and merging with the cigarette smoke. Where's he headed?

. . . . .

After ten or so minutes, the police arrived to sort everything out. They commended us on our bravery and willingness to fight a dangerous force, but scolded us for doing it ourselves. In the end, we didn't receive any kind of punishment from legal authorities, but we don't know how Ozpin will react.

We're currently in the back of a police car, our teams split into two to fit everyone into two vehicles. I'm in the same car as Yang, Blake and Jaune. Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Ren and Pyrrha are in other vehicle. Both cars are headed towards Beacon Academy, where we'll need to talk to Ozpin. I guess he decided it couldn't wait until Monday next week, so that's happening now.

The silence between us all is deafening. It's not like there's anyone else here that would be consciously or unconsciously halting conversation, the police car is self-driving so the actual policemen and women can sort out more pressing matters. I guess we don't know where to start, but we're going to have to start somewhere eventually, so I attempt to break the silence.

"What do you think will happen when we get back to school?"

Yang takes a few seconds to think before responding, not looking up to meet my gaze. "I'm not sure. I doubt we'll get expelled but some kind of punishment's going to happen."

We lapse into silence again, my attempt at starting some kind of dialogue obviously failing miserably. I give up and pull out my Scroll, intending to check if the fight between us and Shiin's made the news. Opening it, I see the holographic screen blink to life, showing my lock screen.

It's a photo that Com managed to move from his Earth phone to his Scroll. Eventually I asked him for a copy and he sent the picture to me. It's of me and him, back before we fell to this strange world, attending a rugby match. I wanted to go with a friend but nobody could make it and I didn't think that Com liked rugby, so I was going to leave alone. But as soon as I opened the door to my house, he was standing there on the balcony.

"Hey, you didn't think I'd let you go alone, did you?" Com smirked, taking a drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke away from my house out of respect.

"I thought you didn't like rugby, bro, don't come just for me."

"I had somewhat of a revelation that made me like it. I just had to think about it being a sport in which big burly men severely injure each other. It's basically team UFC with a ball. Besides, you're there so it'll be fun either way."

It was indeed fun. The photo I'm looking at right now was a selfie we took in the last quarter, both of us a little drunk from the whiskey Com snuck into the stadium in a flask. We're both smiling, Com is doing a peace sign and I'm giving the camera the middle finger. I don't know, typically it'd be the other way round, Com was always the more aggressive one.

These memories wouldn't hurt so much if I couldn't feel Com's undeniable absence hanging in the air like a foul smell. Tears begin to well up in my eyes, eventually travelling down my face and dripping onto my bloodstained combat trousers. Seems that the others in the car have noticed my crying and the image on my Scroll, and Pyrrha rests her hand on my shoulder as I put my head in my hands. I know Com wouldn't want me to grieve like this, but I can't not, you know? He was my best friend in the whole world, I need this time.

I don't look up, but I hear sniffling and the stifling of sobs and I know I'm not alone. If I had to guess the other person crying in the car is probably Yang. Com and her were a thing, he loved her, and I can only imagine she felt the same way. I don't intend to find out if my hypothesis is correct however. I don't want answers, I just want my friend back.

. . . . .

The door to the Headmaster's office opens and we step inside, all nine of us. The police simply dropped us off at the gates assuming we knew the directions to Ozpin's crib, so to speak. If we were any threat they'd probably have armed guards escort up, but even if I was dangerous I'm too drained to care.

Ozpin's looking out of the massive window in the office overlooking the school. It's dark outside now, the school illuminated by Dust-feulled street lamps and the glow coming from the few classrooms that are still lit. Walking up and looking at the same view, I notice that the red circles on the white flags hanging off of the streetlamps seem to glow in the night. They look fiery, like they've been infused with fire Dust (or burn Dust, I'm not sure of the proper name. I haven't payed much attention in any Science classes). It's a pretty scene. After a while of everyone just standing in silence Ozpin speaks.

"I heard about Mr Kellner. I'm sorry." Ozpin lowers his gaze, pushing his glasses back up his face. "His sacrifice was not in vain, however. I heard from a few friends in the police force that after a brief inspection of the destroyed robot, traces of nuclear substances were discovered. It's unlikely that they were being used as a fuel source, and if they were going to be used to detonate the robot the surrounding area for over ten kilometres would be affected. You all saved hundreds of lives, and if Shiin had lived many more may have suffered as well." At this point Ozpin turns away from the window to look at us, a grim expression on his face.

"However, what you did was extremely dangerous. You put your lives at risk fighting a clearly formidable opponent, without having any professional huntsmen helping you. What on Remnant were you thinking?"

We all hand our heads with shame. Our actions ended up getting one of our friends killed, and in hindsight it was a stupid idea not to get a huntsman like that Mr Branwen involved. I guess we underestimated what Shiin could do, thought we could take him on ourselves.

"Considering your incredibly risky behaviour I would typically have you all expelled here and now, but you did a great thing, defeating Shiin. I believe Vale owes all of you a great deed of thanks. Because of that, I'll lift any punishments you would've normally faced. I'm sure Mr Kellner's passing is punishment enough, and that teaches more of a lesson than any punishment I could enforce." Oz sighs heavily. Clearly this death has been weighing on his mind. I suppose he may hold himself accountable for it, or maybe he regrets not being there to stop it.

"Now, onto legal matters. The police have decided to release information about Mr Kellner and Mr Gami, however they believe that it is in your best interests to keep your identities private. We don't know how the public would react at knowing your involvement with all of this. No charges will be pressed for any of what you did."

I find my voice to respond to Professor Ozpin. "Thank you, sir." The fact that we're not being punished by the authorities is quite remarkable, and I can only imagine that Ozpin's involved with that somehow.

"Take tomorrow off. I need time to think, and I'm sure you all do to. Goodnight." With that, Ozpin turns away from us and faces outside again, his scarf somehow blowing slightly in the absence of wind. I think about saying something else, thanking him more, asking what seems to be bothering him, but I don't think it's the right time. So we walk out of Ozpin's office and close the door, moving back to our dorm rooms. Since team RWBY and team JNPR's dorms are so close together, we stop outside both doors to say our goodnights.

"I'll see you guys in the morning, I guess." Jaune yawns as he stumbles into his room and collapses on his bed, probably due to the exhaustion of the day. I don't blame him, I'm feeling pretty tired myself. My team funnels into their room one by one, as do team RWBY, but before they can close the door, I decide on something.

"Wait!" The door stops just before it closes, and Ruby peeks back out at me.

"Yes, Eadie? What is it?"

"Umm...if you don't mind, could I sleep in here tonight? I don't know why, I just feel it's something I want to do."

Seems like Ruby considers this for a moment, before reopening the door and letting me in. "Sure, you can sleep on the mattress that Com used. He finally brought one up after all these months, the lazy goof. I'm sure everyone else will be fine with it as well."

I quickly grab my pajamas from my normal room and get changed, before sliding into Com's mattress-bad-thing in the middle of the room. I see all the other team members are doing something other than getting to sleep. Blake's reading God-knows-what, Ruby and Weiss seem to be studying without actually trying to learn anything, and Yang's just staring at the bunk above hers, not doing much of anything.

"Goodnight, guys." I say with a yawn, as I bury my face in the surprisingly luxurious-feeling Beacon pillows. I'm pretty sure I hear the rest of people in the room mumble "Night Com" before I drift off to sleep.

. . . . .

As soon as my eyes close, I feel the world warp and distort around me. A hot wind blows against my face and the heat beats down on my bare back. My eyelids cautiously open, not entirely sure what's happening. I'm in some sort of outback-looking hellscape, the crimson sun blazing against the red sky. The ground's thoroughly cracked, most likely from the temperature of this place. I look around, my eyes still around half-shut. There looks to be nothing for miles on end in most directions, but behind me there seems to be some kind of drop-off, perhaps a cliff or another ledge of some kind. I feel drawn towards that cliff, like something important is over there, and lying in the middle of this hellhole isn't going to change anything. So I haul myself up and set off towards it, the sun glaring in my eyes. I put a hand in between its glare and my eyes, and when I turn my attention back I'm only thirty or so metres away from the edge. How the hell did I move so quickly? Is this dream logic? This feels like dream logic.

Yep, looks like it's a cliff, with the top jutting out over an abyss of...seemingly nothing. If there's anything down there, I can't see it, not do I particularly want to get any closer to find out. My eyes scan the length of the cliff's edge, trying to find my next direction. I'm pretty sure that I'm in a dream by this point, but I don't think I should wake up quite yet.

Eventually my eyes focus on a haze in front of me, a black haze, almost mirage-like in appearance. Eventually that mirage becomes more opaque, more solid and formly, until it takes on the appearance of a person. I recognise that person immediately.

It's Com.

"Well, I guess I'm about done." he says, taking a drag of his cigarette before flicking it into the ether behind him. He's standing on the edge of a cliff, back turned to the abyss that seems to loom off it. "I expected I'd kick it sometime soon, you know. Seemed highly unlikely I'd survive for even this long. Guess I just wasn't cut out for it. I mean, come on." He meets my gaze and grins, his blank glass eye disintegrating. A glowing red replaces the eye in Com's empty eye socket, and his other eye glints in the light of the looming red sun. "If that green cunt could take me down, no way in hell I was cut out for this one."

I open my mouth to try and speak to Com, but I can't find my voice. I yell and scream at him, or at least attempt to, but not even a squeak emerges from my mouth. While I can't speak or yell, I can still cry. I taste the salt as the tears roll down my face and one lands on my lips. Even though this is only a dream its bitterness and saltiness disgusts me. Com seems to recognise my attempt at communication and gets my attention.

"Oi, Eadie, quit it. I'm not one for unearned sympathy. I mean, I'd say it was worth losing my life to protect the ones I love. I couldn't _not_ , you know? Can you imagine what kind of arsehole I'd be painted as? Jesus." He rubs his eyes and stretches his arms and back a little bit. "Well, that's not the main reason. I just...couldn't let Yang die, you know? I couldn't let any of the team die, or you. You would've done the same thing for Blake, I can assure ya."

He notices the tears streaking down my cheeks and suddenly I'm right in front of him. I'm not sure if I was teleported here or if this is some kind of dream magic, but that's not what I'm focusing on right now.

"Bro, this might be the last time I ever see you again. This dream connection thing's pretty strenuous on my deceased Soul. Aura doesn't regenerate when you're dead, and doing this drains it. And if you recall correctly, I never had much to begin with. So, I'm going to have to cut this short. So much to say, so little time, hey?" He lifts my head so that he's looking right at me with his one eye, his mouth in a closed-lip smile.

"I was never cut out for this place. You are. You can do this, man. I believe in you. That's a generic fucking thing to say, but I do. Don't mourn for me, I don't need to feel bad wherever I'm going. And, if you could, could you tell your kids about me? I'll be their honorary uncle from the grave, I guess. I just don't want to be forgotten. Scary thought." A wave of melancholy seems to roll over Com's face, changing his expression to one of sadness, maybe a little regret. "And one more thing, man...tell Yang that I'll always love her. Tell her...tell her that. Tell the rest of team RWBY as well, but especially...especially Yang. Man," he says, wiping a crimson tear from his blazing red eye, "didn't expect it to end like this, but I'm all for a twist ending."

He stands up straight, brushes his clothes down, and turns away from me facing the abyss off the cliff. In the last moments of my dream, he looks over his shoulder at me and pretends to shoot me with finger guns. "I'll keep a seat warm for you, bro. See you." With that, Com leaps off of the cliff, his longcoat buffeting behind him in the harsh, hot wind. It's almost as if he floats midair for a second, maybe that's his clothes' gravity Dust infusion, but in the blink of an eye he vanishes. I swear I hear him chuckling as he falls, the sound of his laughter fading as he descends further. Into what, I don't know, but I'm glad he stopped me from joining him.

. . . . .

Author's Note: Hey, sorry for the long wait. New chapter coming out soon. Thanks for all the support, see you later.


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

You would've thought that after fifteen years, Com's grave would look different. A bit overgrown maybe, a little worse-for-wear, but surprisingly it looks as new as it did the day it was embedded into the ground. Then again, people have a lot of respect for Com, for the shit he did that day. I don't think people would let his grave go untended.

Me, Blake and Grisa, our eldest, walk through the graveyard in relative silence. We left the little one at home with a babysitter, we didn't want him crying and all that, plus it's a little too soon for a kid like him to come to a graveyard. It's a pretty nice day out, sun shining through the branches and all that. If Com was here he'd complain about the overbearing juxtaposition of the situation, or maybe he'd be too busy daydreaming or smoking to comment. We visit every year, on the anniversary of Com's fall to Remnant. We could do it on the date of his death, or not at all, but either option doesn't exactly sit well with any of us.

"Dad?" Grisa pipes up as we walk towards the end of the graveyard. This is her first time in a graveyard, she hasn't joined us on the other little excursions, so I can guess what kind of question she's going to ask.

"Yes, honey?"

"Why are we here? Is it something to do with Uncle Com?"

I sigh. She's more observant than you would expect of a seven-year-old. I guess she picked up on where we were going through snippets of conversation.

"Yes, Grisa, it is. I'm sure you've heard about him plenty from our friends, but this is a little tradition we do every year. We all get together and go visit him. You like it when your friends visit you, don't you?"

"Well, when Beryl and Garnet come and play, I like it."

"It's kind of like that for us. If we didn't visit Com he'd probably get sad and that'd be mean, wouldn't it?" Grisa nods her head in understanding. I think I explained that fine. Grisa soon sees Garnet and Beryl off in another part of the graveyard, relatively free of graves, and runs off to play with them. That leaves me and Blake alone for now.

"Eadie?"

"Yes, honey?"

"What was Com like, before he ended up here? I always got the impression he changed, but I never wanted to ask you in case you didn't want to talk about it."

I sigh. It's a better time now than ever. "Well, I didn't really notice a difference, because around me he acted the same. Same loudmouthed, cynical, lusty gentleman. But I noticed when he was around other people, outside his friend group, he quietened down, became a little less...himself. You guys brought him out of his shell plenty, I think."

"For better or worse?"

"That's not for me to decide, but he seemed happier than he'd ever been over in London. So I'd say for the better. How's Yang been, by the way? I haven't really seen her for a while since she's always off doing missions."

"Oh, she's fine. You know her, always wants to keep busy. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just...she didn't exactly take Com's death very well, did she?"

"She definitely didn't. But she's fine now, just a little...older."

"Strange if she wasn't, to be honest." Age has been kind to both of us, for the most part. We're still as fit as ever, but my once shining golden hair is beginning to turn grey sooner than I expected. Hey, at least I'm not balding, but still 33 is a little early for that. As for Blake, she's as beautiful as when I first met her. She looks quite similar to her mother now.

I remember the first time I met Blake's parents. Although I wish I didn't. The atmosphere at Menagerie wasn't exactly a welcoming one to humans. I felt the Faunus there sizing me up, looking for any animalistic traits, and not finding any, ignoring my presence. Wow, I thought they'd be a little more accepting, but I suppose not. Hey, at least Kali was nice, if a little surprised that Blake would end up in a relationship with a human. Blake's dad, though, was a different story altogether. He tried his best to ignore me whenever possible, but I think they both like me well enough now.

After a while of sitting there in silence, we hear light footsteps coming our way. I turn my head and see Ruby walking towards us, a sad smile on her face. When she turned twenty she made the decision to grow her hair out for a change, and she's stuck to that style ever since. Being two years younger than us hasn't made her any less reliable of a teammate if we ever find ourselves on missions together. She's still a little childish in temperament and mentality, but I let her off for that. Everyone has their flaws.

Ruby gives me and Blake a massive hug (massive for a small woman) when she gets within range.

"Ruby, so good to see you. Where've you been?"

"Oh, I've been on a massive mission for the past few months. Sorry, I meant to write back but everything's been so hectic, you know?"

"Don't worry, it's cool, I get it. How was it, by the way?"

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Same old, same old. I'm getting bored, we need something new to fight against." Her eyes light up. "How about a Grimm made out of spaghetti? Like a massive spaghetti Grimm with huge noodle tentacles we need to fight. How cool would that be?" Ruby hasn't aged mentally very much, which I don't really mind. It's like a reminder of the past, her attitude's almost a memento of sorts.

"Hey, where's Weiss? Wasn't she on that mission with you?"

"Yep. She's running late, family drama apparently. Her brother's being, well, her brother."

"No surprises there." I doubt she wouldn't show up though. As much as she hated to admit it when he was alive, Weiss had a liiiittle bit of a crush on Com, and was a smidge jealous of him and Yang. But, y'know, she got over that eventually and seems to be doing fine. Managing the company is a hard job and considering the increase in stock value and sales, she's certainly doing a damn good job of it.

Ruby's Scroll rings and she checks it, before groaning and putting it back away. I hear her mutter "For God's sake" under her breath as she's doing so.

"Anything wrong?"

"No, my boss just asked me if I could do some extra work this month. It's like he doesn't know that after a long mission you're supposed to get a little break." She rubs her eyes, which show her tiredness clear as day. "Anyway, enough about me, how are you guys doing?"

Before I can answer, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Not expecting that at all, I wheel around and attempt to draw the sword that I didn't bring with me today. It takes a solid second of grasping for it before I realise I'm not going to have much luck in that department. Turns out it's just Yang, trying to get my attention. Or maybe spooking me, I don't know. If that was her intention she definitely succeeded.

"Yang, Jesus. Don't sneak up on me like that." Yang's doubled over laughing at my flustered state. As much as I dislike being frightened, at least she's still got a sense of humour.

"Sorry, Eadie, Sorry. I couldn't help myself. How've you been?"

"Same old, same old, a mission a month and all that. What about you?"

"I've been doing a little too well, I'd say. It's like I never have any time to myself what with all the missions I'm always being sent on." Because you can't handle that free time without becoming depressed, a tiny, nasty part of my brain thinks, before I push it aside. Hey, I can't think like that. I did a similar thing to cope as well.

"Hey, have you guys seen Jaune and Pyrrha recently? I haven't really been able to catch up with them, it's like we're always assigned missions on opposite sides of Remnant." Ruby says, looking back at her kids, Garnet and Beryl, playing with Grisa. I've got to say, Ruby did a great job raising those two. Apart from their minor cookie addictions, they're as well-mannered as anything. I'd like to think I did a decent job raising Grisa, but Blake was responsible for most of the parenting. I know, stereotypical gender roles and all that, but that's how it ended up.

"Well, big news in case you didn't hear; I heard Jaune might propose sometime soon!"

"Are you kidding?!" Ruby squeals a little with excitement. "It took them sooooo long to get together and now Jaune's PROPOSING? And Pyrrha's bound to say yes so they're getting ENGAGED?!" Ruby can barely contain her enthusiasm, I guess she never heard when she was on her mission. We try to keep in contact as much as possible but a phone call once a week or so can only get you so far. This time's about the only time where we all get together, the whole gang of RWBY and JNPR.

Well, almost the whole gang. I'd like to think most of us have coped pretty well over the years, each in their own way. I'm still having a little more trouble than most of the gang, but I'm getting better. Even after all this time Com's still affecting me from the grave.

"Well, I suppose we should go and see how Com's doing, hey?" Yang says. She's right. It'll be time to go soon enough, and I've got to leave on another mission tomorrow. Preparations need to be made and all that. Plus, judging by the Schnee Dust Company-branded helicopter flying overhead, Weiss will be arriving soon.

I sigh, then nod at Yang, setting off towards my best friend's resting place. I trust Grisa to stay out of trouble for a while, and I'm sure she'll come looking for me and Blake soon enough.

Team JNPR are already at Com's grave, so the girls will be able to catch up with all of them there. It's strange, I think as I walk with my friends, that we never learnt how Com and I ended up here. It's strange how that doesn't seem to matter anymore.

It's strange, I think, how beautiful Remnant looks in a graveyard.

. . . . .

 **END**


	25. Author's Note

Hello everyone.

Thank you all so much for reading up until this point. I'm so incredily thankful for all of you, both the ones who left mesages of support and of criticism.

I want to bring light to the negative reviews for a second and thank you especially. I need constructive criticism, that much is obvious. This work isn't great by any means and I regret writing some parts the way I did. A few reviews I received drew my attention to parts of the story that could've been improved if the occurences of the story were altered slightly. Seeing them opened my eyes to where I fucked up. I won't be writing any more of this story, this is the end, and I won't be going back and changing anything, however the comments have made me more conscious of what readers like and dislike, and what to avoid in my next story. I appreciate it.

Now, a question that I'm sure many of you had been wondering; why did Com have to die? Well, simply because I didn't want a happy ending. You see so many damn happy endings where everything ends up fine in the end and the main characters live happily ever after and butterflies and rainbows. I didn't want a happy ending because it was so predictable as well. I'm fed up of that kind of story. There needs to be some kind of scar on every character that's directly involved with a story or the events may as well have not happened at all. That's why Com died. To those of you who didn't like it, I'm sorry but it was something I felt had to happen.

Either way, that's about all I can say. I'll still be visiting this place, checking everything out, finding any criticism possible and reading all the reviews that come in. If you're able to spread this story in any way possible, it would be ridiculously appreciated.

That's all. Thanks for reading.

Regards,

ComradeTrick


End file.
